Pak parliament: Bill passed to stop use of EVM in polls
The National Assembly of Pakistan (NA) has passed the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2022, which seeks to remove the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in general elections as well as disallows overseas Pakistanis from voting.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi on Thursday presented the bill that was passed with a majority vote, with only members of the Grand Democratic Alliance opposing it.
Yesterday, the Senate passed the bill, along with the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill 2021.
The bills sought to reverse changes made in the election laws by the previous PTI government regarding the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and i-voting for overseas Pakistanis and clipping the vast powers of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The bills were presented amid talks about the possibility of early elections in the country and a day after ousted prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan abruptly ended his long march by giving a six-day deadline to the government to announce the election date.
After their approval from both houses, only the president's assent is required for them to become law.
Speaking about the legislation, federal Minister of Law and Azam Nazeer Tarar said it was of immense significance.
He recalled the previous PTI government had made multiple amendments to the Election Act, 2017, including those that allowed the use of EVMs and granted overseas Pakistanis the right to vote in general elections.
The PTI government had made the amendments through the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021, which it had bulldozed through the NA along with 32 other legislations on November 17, 2021.
Tarar said the bill presented on Thursday sought to revive the Elections Act, 2017 in the shape prior to those amendments, which would ensure free, fair, and transparent elections.
Under the new bill, he said, two amendments were being made to Sections 94 and 103 of the Act, both of which pertain to the Election Commission of Pakistan ECP conducting pilot projects for overseas voting and the use of EVMs.
He clarified that overseas Pakistanis had not been deprived of their right to vote.
The ECP had been asked to ensure voting rights while assuring secrecy, he told the upper house of parliament.
Under the amendment to Section 94 of the Election Act of 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 to Section 103 of the Election Act, the ECP may conduct pilot projects to utilise EVMs and the biometric verification system in by-elections.
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