Federal government to give i-voting right to overseas Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to allow the overseas Pakistanis to participate in the polling process by providing internet-voting (i-voting) rights.

The decision was made during an important meeting held in Islamabad today (Monday). The meeting was attended by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari, PM’s adviser on parliamentary affairs Babar Awan, officials of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

According to details, the participants of the meeting have given approval to the bio-metric and i-voting procedures after reviewing its practical demonstration.

The meeting has also decided to take the initiative to Parliament in order to initiate a debate on internet-voting rights to overseas Pakistanis based on ECP reports.

On the occasion, Zulfiqar Bukhari has assured that the incumbent government was going to fulfill the longstanding demand of the overseas Pakistanis.

The Special Assistant further said that the i-voting procedure will be designed in an accessible manner to give the overseas nationals the right to take part in elections in accordance with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“The past governments had neglected the matters related to giving chance to overseas nationals to participate in the polling,” he added.  

Zulfiqar Bukhari also announced that the incumbent government will also include the overseas Pakistanis in the decision-making process.