Pakistan to have Electronic Voting Machines
By IANSMonday, October 11, 2010
ISLAMABAD - Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be introduced in Pakistan and some 200,000 EVMs would be procured before the general elections, authorities said.
The Pakistani Election Commission plans to conduct a pilot project during local government polls expected next year, Dawn reported.
The general elections were last held in 2008.
Sources said Saturday that a committee went into the the merits and demerits of EVMs and it found the use of the technology in the country feasible. The EVMs feasibility report has been sent to President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
The committee observed that the Election Commission should initiate the process for procurement of EVMs for the pilot project. It also suggested that a request for quotations should be sent to leading EVM vendors.
Sources said that billions of rupees would be required to implement the project as some 200,000 EVMs would have to be procured for general elections.
Though the cheapest EVM offered by an Indian company costs Rs.25,000, the Election Commission wants to introduce a better version.
