How electoral reforms will affect you

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday said the federal cabinet had approved two ordinances pertaining to the reforms in the country’s electoral system. The said electoral reforms consist of four parts; electronic voting machines (EVMs), e-voting for overseas Pakistanis, use of biometric authentication, and legislation,” the minister informed.

Out of the approved ordinances, one is in relevance to the electronic voting, whereas the other aims to facilitate overseas Pakistani voters. The ordinance authorizes the Election Commission to use the EVM machine. However, Fawad Chaudhry added, PML-N and PPP are reluctant on providing this EVM facility to the overseas Pakistanis.

He emphasized that the government has fulfilled its responsibility regarding legislation on the subject. “Technological work is to be done on biometric and e-voting,” Fawad added.

Fawad said that after the ordinance, it is up to the ECP to include overseas Pakistanis in the voting process.

The move comes after PPP’s NA-249 by-election victory, which was declared a “stolen” election by the PML-N.

It also comes after PM extended an invitation to Opposition parties to sit down with the government and work on electoral reforms so elections can be made fair and transparent for all.