ECP issues fact sheet about EVMs, overseas voting, Secret Balloting

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday issued a fact sheet about the misleading propaganda on different matters related to the institution like EVM, overseas Pakistanis voting and secret balloting.
According to the 24News HD TV channel, the spokesperson of the ECP has stated that misleading propaganda is being spread regarding some decisions and events of the Election Commission like Kashif Chaudhry case, Faisal Vada case, Daska Re-polling, EVM, overseas Pakistanis voting and secret balloting in Senate issues.
The ECP spokesperson said the Commission was subjected to unnecessary criticism on the issue of overseas Pakistanis voting, which is not acceptable in any case.
The spokesperson said Article 226 clearly states which elections will be held by secret ballot including Senate elections so how can the ECP be guilty of violating the Constitution?
On the issue of Yousuf Raza Gilani’s notification, the Spokesperson said propaganda was done on the issue of refusal to stop his notification. The Spokesperson raised the question that after the voting in the National Assembly, why was Yusuf Raza Gilani not notified?
The Spokesperson also rejected the propaganda related to Ali Musa Gilani and said it is a total lie that no action was taken against Ali Musa Gilani. The spokesperson said the ECP decided to take criminal action against Ali Musa Gilani as per the law.
The spokesperson said two high-level inquiries have proved that the rigging of the Daska election is unprecedented and abducted presiding officers, police and administration have revealed shocking facts in their statements.
The spokesperson further added that observing the above facts, shouldn't the Daska re-poll be ordered anyway?
The impartiality of the Election Commission is proven by the fact that 80% of the successful candidates in the by-elections were not from the ruling party, the spokesperson said.
In the matter of Faisal Vawda, the spokesperson said no comment regarding the Faisal Vawda case is appropriate as it is being heard in the Supreme Court.
The spokesperson said in the by-elections of 20 constituencies of Punjab, that the government was not allowed to interfere in any way and stopped external interlopers with a good strategy and that was the reason all political parties accepted the election results.
On the issue of using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the elections, the spokesperson said only India and Brazil are using the EVMs in their elections and they adopted this system taking 22 to 25 years.
The spokesperson said the ECP officials had held meetings with the Ambassador of Brazil regarding the progress of EVMs who had said that it would be a miracle for the EVM system to be used in Pakistan by the October 2023 general elections.
Anyhow, the spokesperson said the ECP is still working on EVMs and overseas Pakistanis’ voting issues.
The spokesperson said the ECP has submitted the report of the NADRA System made for overseas voting in the Parliament following the Supreme Court orders but this report could not be discussed to date.
The spokesperson further stated that the government also got audited this system by an international Spanish firm and the then secretary of the IT Department and the representatives of the international firm had briefed the ECP that if the system made by NADRA was used, the election would become controversial.

Reporter: Usman Khan