AG Khalid Javed meets CEC over electoral reforms, use of EVMs

ISLAMABAD: Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan on Thursday held a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner to discuss proposed elections reforms, ARY News reported.

Attorney General briefed CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja about the government’s stance on the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in elections.

The AG also informed about the legal matters with regard to extending voting rights to the overseas Pakistanis.

He also assured the CEC to address the reservations of the election commission with regard to the electoral reforms bill.

Election Commission of Pakistan in June had conveyed its reservations on electoral reforms planned by the government through an amendment bill in the Senate.

The ECP expressed reservations over the Elections Act (Amendment) Bill 2020, saying that some of the amendments in it are unconstitutional as its suggestions on them were not taken up by the relevant standing committee.

In a letter conveyed to the Parliamentary Affairs ministry, the ECP asked the ministry to bring the election body’s reservations into the notice of the prime minister.

The ECP wrote that the proposed law carries an amendment seeking voting through an open ballot which was against Article 226 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

“The ECP has already given its point of view in this regard during a presidential reference on the open ballot in the Supreme Court,” the letter read.