ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Thursday passed the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which scraps using electronic voting machines and restrains overseas Pakistanis from participating in elections.
The bill was recently approved by the federal cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi presented the bill in the assembly.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar dismissed the notion that the bill was an attempt to deprive overseas Pakistanis of their right to vote, saying it was of immense significance in bringing reforms.
The bills stated that pilot projects in by-elections should be conducted before using i-voting and Electronic Voting Machines in general elections.
Tarar said overseas Pakistanis are a precious asset of the country and the government does not believe in snatching their right to vote.
Regarding using Electronic Voting Machines, the Law Minister said they are not against use of technology, but have concerns about misuse of technology as Result Transmission System (RTS) had failed in last general elections to favour a political party.
He said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had also expressed its inability to hold elections through i-Voting and EVMs in a short span of time and without proper homework.
He said two amendments are being brought to revive the Elections Act 2017, enabling the ECP to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections.
Under the amendment in Section 94 of the Election Act, 2017, the Commission may conduct pilot projects for voting by Overseas Pakistanis in by-elections to ascertain the “technical efficacy, secrecy, security, and financial feasibility of such voting and shall share the results with the government, which shall, within 15 days from the commencement of a session of a House after the receipt of the report, lay the same before both Houses of the Parliament”.
Pakistan Tehreeek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had made several amendments to the Election Act, 2017, including those that allowed the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and granted overseas Pakistanis the right to vote in general elections.
In November 2021, a joint session of the Parliament passed the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021 regarding the use of EVMs.
