In order to use the newly adopted electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the next local government elections, the Punjab provincial government has been asked to change the law.
In this regard, the Punjab chief secretary and the secretary of the local government and community development department have received a letter from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) requesting that they take the appropriate actions.
The Election Commission of Pakistan reportedly claimed that there would be no need for a competitive process and that the province government would have to construct these machines internally.
According to an ECP official who spoke with the media, the authority would require over 205,000 EVMs for local government (LG) elections, keeping in mind that the province is the largest in the nation.
However, according to sources, the Punjab local government department has approved the ECP’s proposal to hold elections without using electronic voting machines and will provide the chief minister with a report in this respect.
Electronic voting machines (EVMs) were introduced mostly because to the widespread belief that no election, with the exception of the one that led to the secession of East Pakistan in the 1970s, has ever been free and fair. The Free and Fair Election Network’s general secretary, Sarwar Bari, concurs with this opinion as well.
Election rigging and manipulation in Pakistan take place on a variety of levels, involving numerous stakeholders and players directly or indirectly. Malpractice claims are frequently made against various state agencies, military installations, election officials, political parties, and their candidates both before and after the election.
Imran Khan’s administration in Pakistan was working to implement electoral changes that, in order to lessen the likelihood of both pre- and post-election cheating. Additionally, it was previously reported that the government intended to conduct a nationwide census before to the 2023 election in order to limit and manage election-related gerrymandering and census-related manipulation.
