ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday was informed that it is highly possible that the expatriates will not be able to vote in the General Elections 2018.
Hearing a case, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar inquired about the about the provision of vote facility to overseas Pakistanis. To this, lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said that there is a high possibility that the overseas Pakistanis won’t be able to vote in the upcoming elections.
“The steps carried out for voting by overseas Pakistanis should continue whereas the efforts of the court in this regard are commendable,” the counsel said.
“It is correct that this procedure is not possible right now. I tried to provide this facility to the overseas Pakistanis. But it will cause an immense loss at this point,” remarked the CJP.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary told the court that as per a third-party evaluation, the e-voting project for the expatriates could not be accomplished. “At the moment, they cannot be given the voting facility. There is a need to work more over the online system,” he explained.
The CJP directed to make the task force report public. “The e-voting process can be reviewed in by-polls,” he maintained.
The court adjourned the hearing of the case for an indefinite period.
