Public, opposition 'invited' to examine electronic voting machines

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Technology Shibli Faraz Tuesday invited opposition parties and the general public to examine the locally made electronic voting machine (EVM) saying that the government would make efforts to address their reservations in this regard, ARY NEWS reported.

“I am asking the opposition to not oppose it without any examination and should send their technical experts to review its working,” the minister said ahead of a briefing to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on the matter.

He said that they had prepared a model machine and would accept the decision from the ECP after the examination today. “ECP is a constitutional institution and the government cannot dictate it,” the IT minister said.

Shibli Faraz said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken a revolutionary step for electoral reforms and the introduction of EVMs would change the country’s electoral history.

He said that there was nothing secret in the machine and their only purpose was to bring transparency to the electoral process. “Even the ECP is opting for technological change for improving electoral process,” the minister said.

IT Minister Shibli Faraz has previously written a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of the ECP Sikandar Sultan Raja to review the EVMs.

“We have prepared an EVM as per the recommendations of the election commission,” the letter to the CEC ECP said while asking him to suggest changes if any after the review process.

On August 07, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan also witnessed a detailed demonstration of a new locally-made electronic voting machine (EVM).