ECP says not ‘acting in haste’ over i-voting for overseas Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday held a joint press conference with National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) officials to reject criticism over the i-voting software that will be used to enable overseas Pakistanis to vote in the October by-elections.

The ECP’s Director General of Public Relations Nadim Qasim said that overseas Pakistanis have the right to vote as well.

“The ECP is not working with haste,” he said, “it is fulfilling its constitutional responsibility.”

The ECP will be holding by-elections in 37 constituencies for both national and provincial assembly seats on Oct 14.

However, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) said that the i-voting system can “easily be subjected to cyber attacks or manipulation”.

Political parties have also expressed concerns about the i-voting process.

The ECP spokesperson said, “The process of registering overseas voters is ongoing. It began on Sept 1 and will conclude by the 15 of the month. The commission hopes that maximum number of voters would be registered in the last few days.”

It was reported that only National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) and Machine Readable Passport (MRP) holders can be registered for the i-voting process.

Following the registrations, voters will be sent a passcode on their provided emails which will be in use between 8am to 6pm Pakistan Standard Time (PST).

Moreover, the i-voting of overseas Pakistani’s was a ‘pilot project’ and a report will be presented to parliament on what the experience was like.