ECP's DG for information technology expresses concerns over EVMs' credibility

• The ECP’s IT analysts say the EVM’s buttons can be made dysfunctional by pouring a strong liquid glue in them.
• Shibli Faraz briefs the senators about EVMs to Senate’s Standing Committee on Parliamentarian Affairs.
• Using these EVMs in the next election will be "like a plane crash or a train accident," says Farooq H Naek.

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ISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) director-general for Information Technology (IT) has shared the technical analysis of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with the Senate’s Standing Committee on Parliamentarian Affairs, and expressed serious concerns regarding the "credibility of EVMs."

The ECP’s IT department said in its analysis that the EVM’s buttons can be made dysfunctional by "pouring a strong liquid glue in them."

The analysis was presented during the standing committee meeting on Monday.

During the meeting, the Federal Minister of Science and Technology Shibli Faraz briefed the senators about the newly-developed EVMs and performed a demonstration of their use as well.

“The EVMs are the only way to avoid rigging controversy in elections,” said Faraz.

At this, the Opposition and government members of the Senate engaged in an argument over the use of EVMs in the next elections.

Senator Farooq H Naek inquired how would the EVMs keep a fake voter from casting a false vote.

He said that even developed countries like Germany and Britain have stopped using EVMs.

“Using these EVMs in the next election will be like a plane crash or a train accident,” said Naek.

Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said that in a country where even the Prime Minister’s mobile phone can be hacked and foreign companies get the contracts for developing EVMs, "how will the use of EVMs be made secure."

Meanwhile, the ECP’s IT department said while sharing its technical analysis that though the EVMs make transparency in the polling process possible, it still has some faults as shown in the pilot project.

ECP raises concerns regarding use of EVMs

The ECP chief and members have expressed concerns regarding the use of EVMs earlier when a foreign company demonstrated different types of EVMs to the ECP last Tuesday. 

However, the foreign company assured the ECP that the EVMs can be further improved in the light of their concerns.