The scandal of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) system hounding the recent Indian elections is a timely forewarning for the Election Commission of Pakistan to desist from a complete switchover from the existing paper ballot system to the desired EVM. Official sources in the ECP told The News that although the commission was already not in favour of complete switchover, the reports coming from India have furthered their concerns. In their internal meetings, there is a consensus within the ECP that Pakistan should initially restrict itself to pilot projects under the EVM system. While different political parties, particularly the PTI, demand that the entire 2018 elections should be held under the EVM system, voices coming out of India make the system doubtful. Indian media reports showed that EVM had raised many questions during a mandatory mock poll in Jorhat when every time a button was pressed, the vote went in favour of BJP.
Indian Supreme Court has already taken up the matter of alleged tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM’s) during the recent Assembly Elections in five states. Media reports suggest that Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati dismissed the Uttar Pradesh assembly election results as murder of democracy and said EVM tampering was responsible for her party’s poor showing.
“Either the EVMs did not accept votes other than BJP, or the votes of other parties have gone to BJP in the EVMs,” news agency ANI quoted the Dalit leader as saying. “Polling should be held afresh under the old system in which voters were given ballot papers to cast their vote. Even in USA ballot papers are used in elections after technical fault was detected in EVMs,” she said. She also wrote to the Indian election commission to cancel the election results.
Another report quoted Congress leader Sharmistha Mukherjee having said, “There are countries whose technology are far more advanced than ours but they are not using Electronic Voting Machines. For example France and United Kingdom never used EVM. In Germany and Netherland, the EVM machine has been banned. Italy also starting using EVM but eventually dropped it.”
Full Article: Indian electronic voting machine scandal is forewarning for ECP | Top Story | thenews.com.pk.
