Is Pakistan Ready for EVMs?

In Blog, Economic Security
January 19, 2022
Mahnoor Islam
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The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been strongly campaigning for the last many months to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the next elections despite opposition parties’ disagreement over the introduction of this technology in the electoral process. The use of EVMs was approved by the joint session of the Parliament; however, questions come to

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been strongly campaigning for the last many months to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the next elections despite opposition parties’ disagreement over the introduction of this technology in the electoral process. The use of EVMs was approved by the joint session of the Parliament; however, questions come to mind: how will the government arrange initial investment for the EVM machines? Secondly, how will the government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ensure transparency? Thirdly, how will a simple Pakistani citizen know how to operate and understand the machines?

An electronic voting system is not only made up of a single machine in a polling booth, the system utilizes multiple modules such as a Voter Identification Unit and a Control Unit that work together to enable the electronic voting process. Furthermore, in the 2018 elections, there were 85,000 polling stations, 240,000 polling booths, and 95,000 voter identification units. Pakistan thus needs an estimate of 900,000 to 1,000,000 EVM modules for all provincial and national assembly elections. The cost of the modules will be around PKR 45 Billion to PKR 70 Billion. Not only machines, but Pakistan will also require staff that can provide technical support. Training along with the price of the machines will be extremely costly for the government.

While it is not easy to hack an EVM machine itself, the machines can still be vulnerable to fraud, especially in countries where the people are not literate. In India, for example, during the 2017 elections, a few videos were circulated which showed officials from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pressing the button on the behalf of a voter who was confused regarding the machine. Therefore, ensuring transparency especially among people who are not familiar with such technology may prove to be a challenge as well.

The votes that are cast through the EVM are stored in a computer machine memory which can be prone to hacking. Not only does this spark transparency and fairness concerns, if voters’ identities are made public, but the elections themselves can also be rendered unconstitutional under Pakistan’s Constitution.

Due to a lack of physical security and easy accessibility, EVM machines are known to have been stolen as well. This was the case in Bihar in 2019 when six EVM machines were recovered from a hotel in Muzaffarpur. Such incidents are a major cause of concern as these machines cannot be tracked and located easily, thus causing inconvenience for the administration.

In the US, during the 2020 elections, there were accusations that the machines had been tampered with in order to produce a specific result. While this claim has not been proved, Pakistan is no stranger to conspiracy theories. This can stir controversy and a lack of trust regarding the use of EVMs among the masses. This sentiment needs to be eliminated from the minds of the people and they need to be able to trust this new mechanism of voting.

The government should not forget the 2000 presidential election in Florida, where nearly 3,000 ballots were discarded by the Supreme Court ruling which stated that the ballot holes were not fully punched through. If EVMs are to be used in the next elections, it is absolutely crucial that the government also takes the initiative of educating the people on how to use them.

The introduction of the EVMs can also have an impact on voter turnout in the next election because of the complexity of the machines. This needs to be countered by the authorities. Whether it be through media campaigns or in-person training, familiarity with the machines is key if Pakistan wants hassle-free elections and the hesitancy with regards to technology needs to be reduced.

There is also a need for the government to look into the 37 objections raised by the ECP on the EVMs which includes concern about software alteration and ballot secrecy. Since the ECP is the main body that organizes and conducts elections, the government needs to work with the ECP along with all other relevant stakeholders in order to solve the issues that may arise because of the EVMs.

Elections make a fundamental contribution towards democratic governance and therefore it is crucial that all elections in Pakistan are transparent and smooth. EVMs can be a good way of organizing an election especially in countries with larger populations such as Pakistan, however, certain technicalities need to be looked into and solutions regarding the problems must be sought and implemented.