ECP studies use of EVMs in Brazil

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Wednesday announced that its information technology wing and project management unit (PMU) would jointly prepare the future course of action on the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), fulfilling national duty.

In this connection, an ECP delegation, led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, visited Brazil to inspect EVMs and explore the possibilities of their use in election phases.

The ECP spokesman said the electoral body would continue to further study Brazil’s electoral system in the context of EVMs in pilot projects in Pakistan.

He explained that at present, many countries in the world were partially using EVMs in the election phase, but Brazil and India were the two countries where EVMs were being used at the state level. In view of the fact that Brazil’s electoral system was one of the best and most technologically advanced systems in the world, the ECP team decided to visit Brazil.

During the visit, the team held meaningful meetings with the heads of various departments of the Tribunal Superior Electoral, the body responsible for managing elections in Brazil.

In the meetings, Brazilian election officials gave detailed briefings to the Pakistani delegation on the present and old electoral system in Brazil, its various stages and use of EVMs.

“The key issues that were discussed during the meetings included measures to strengthen social trust at the electoral stages, introduction of Brazilian EVMs, identification system used in electoral process and special consultation/ guidance for prevention of disinformation. The practical use of EVMs for Pakistani delegation was also demonstrated,” the spokesperson said.

A meeting was held between the CEC and TSE president and chief justice of Supreme Court of Brazil during which various important issues, including the use of EVMs, were discussed.