ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) leader and Senator Sherry Rehman voiced her reservations about the “I-Voting” system which is to be used by overseas Pakistani voters in the upcoming by-elections.
While talking to media, she said, “It is great news that overseas Pakistanis can now finally cast their votes. However, it is worrisome and dangerous that a project of this scale is being rolled out in haste. How is this untested system being used for the upcoming by-polls?”
She stated that the system came with no guarantees and this has emphatically been highlighted by PPP. Not that PPP is against voting of overseas residents but it is the system, the mode of implementation that is the main concern, she maintained.
It is important to note that the task force set up by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had itself expressed reservations over the said issue. A lot of red flags can be raised by simply looking at the outset of this initiative.
The senator pointed out, “First, the system should go through multiple trials and scrutiny by experts in online voting technology and the parliament. The identity verification process which involves private e-mail servers, open to data miners and manipulation, does not make sense. Why not use the already established fingerprint system and database that we have? This is being used all over the world even by major financial institutions. If we are to do this, we should do it right out of respect for the sanctity of each vote and uphold the legitimacy of our democratic process.”
