The National Assembly of Pakistan on Thursday approved the “Elections (Amendment) Bill 2022″ which seeks to disallow overseas Pakistanis from voting as well as dismissed the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in general elections.
The bill was presented by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi and was passed with a majority vote. Only members of the Grand Democratic Alliance opposed the said bill which is expected to be sent to the senate tomorrow.
Speaking on the occasion in the House, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar discussed the use of EVM in the general elections saying, “We are not against the use of technology, but we have concerns about misuse of technology as Results Transmission System (RTS) had failed in last general elections to favor a particular political party.”
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had also shown concern regarding I-Voting and EVM’s inability to hold elections in a short span of time, added the Law Minister.
Regarding the voting rights of overseas Pakistanis, Mr. Tarar assured that the amendment is not at all aimed at depriving overseas Pakistanis of their right to vote, since they are a valuable asset of the country and the government does not believe in seizing their right to vote however the election commission may conduct pilot projects for voting by Overseas Pakistanis in bye-elections, under the amendment in Section 94 of the Election Act, 2017.
Amendment Made to the Election Act, 2017
According to Azam Naeem Tarrar, two amendments are being brought to revive the Elections Act 2017, enabling the ECP to ensure transparent, free and fair elections. The amendments are given below:
- Under the amendment in Section 94 of the Election Act, 2017, the ECP 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 parliament.
- Under the amendment in Section 103 of the Election Act, 2017, the ECP may conduct pilot projects for the utilisation of EVMs and biometric verification system in the by-elections.
The PTI government had previously made multiple amendments to the Election Act, 2017, through the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021 including those that allowed the use of EVMs and granted overseas Pakistanis the right to vote in general elections.