Analysts and others have raised objections to the use of electronic voting machines (EVM), just as someone said at the beginning of the last century that the Wright brothers first invented the airplane, and then it would fall to the ground after a short flight, and then be modified, tested, and experimented. Airplanes will evolve into today’s passenger planes or fighter jets. Hundreds of products produced in Pakistan today, including cars, mobile phones, etc., have not gone through such a cycle-learning from the experience and lessons of others has greatly shortened this cycle.

Learning from others who have successfully used EVM, we can find solutions to challenges such as potential hacking of EVM, transporting it to polling stations, ensuring the dust-free environment they need, etc.-after all, we don’t want EVM to be in the United States Appears and India is invaded or destroyed by dust and moisture.

Let us purchase EVM like everyone else, let our relevant experts disassemble these machines to see what's inside and how it works, and then make similar ones in China. Nothing can stop the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from establishing and owning EVM manufacturing facilities and equipping them with trusted personnel. If we can find people and willingness to develop a sound mechanism for manufacturing nuclear bombs, and print banknotes and ballots in a safe environment, then of course we can also have these "uncompromising" EVM mechanisms.

Read more: ECP raises 37 objections to the introduction of EVM

ECP ownership of the entire chain of manufacturing EVM will solve many problems-EVM software installed by ECP employees themselves can refute the argument that the software is unobservable, lacks transparency, and installation depends on the supplier. It will allow ECP to follow global standards.

Let us purchase EVM like everyone else.

What is the cost of EVM? Have we ever estimated the cost of unfair elections and allegations of manipulation, protest, dharnas, and judicial cases to the country, especially the rulers whose people do not vote for? If EVM has a significant impact on rigging, then the financial benefits of manufacturing and using them far outweigh the cost.

Read more: Fawad Chaudhry says EVM is the key to Internet voting for polling reform

Then there is the debate about the EVM consensus. The democracy we advocate requires the will of the majority and does not require consensus. Second, "consensus" is still undefined. Is it the will of all registered political parties or just the will of the parties that represent the National Assembly? Should we accept smaller parties that are represented only in provincial assemblies? What about potential independent candidates? They are also stakeholders in the polls. The definition of consensus can be expanded to derive any meaning from it and suit any interest.

What if almost all parties agree to use EVM, but the Y party, which has only 1% of seats in the parliament, decides to spoil them? Should we wait for its consent? When trying to define the term, we realized that reaching consensus on EVM or any voting reform is impractical; the democratic principle of "majority rule" is the only viable option. Let us not forget that our National Financial Commission was decided by consensus, and its history is full of deadlocks.

Assume that any political party (such as X) may oppose EVM for two reasons. First, X believes that EVM will be manipulated to its disadvantage; second, if EVM is used, the advantages X enjoys in manipulating manual processes will be worthless. In either case, this is a question of trust. Since political parties have no confidence in the current system and EVM, the "lack of trust" is offset in the equation.

Read more: Prime Minister Imran invites the opposition to negotiate electoral reforms

One might argue that if all the EVMs to be used are compromised, then manipulation will be important and systemic. ECP's ownership of the entire manufacturing, storage and use chain of EVM will solve the potential of system manipulation to a certain extent. What remains is the possibility of manipulation by the ECP staff — the opposition parties currently seem to trust the ECP, and the ruling coalition has already supported the EVM — for the 2023 election, if the ECP will have the entire chain.

The EVM Use Committee established in 2010 recommended that this matter be dealt with in stages. So far, aside from the trial of EVM in two by-elections, not much work has been done. This is very slow progress. If the authorities have been working at a normal bureaucratic speed since 2010, it would not be difficult to make EVM a reality in 2023 or even earlier. The authorities can make up for the snail-like pace of the past by working now to make EVM a reality.

The author is a researcher at PIDE.

Published on November 4, 2021 Liming

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