Islamabad April 10 2025: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday submitted written comments to the Supreme Court of Pakistan in a case seeking right of vote to overseas Pakistanis.
The ECP prayed the court to dismiss the petition against amendments in Election Act.
In its response, the commission has said that the amendments to the Election Act have been challenged in the petitions. The Election Commission has conducted a pilot project of e-voting in the October 2018 by-elections. The report of the pilot project has been submitted to the Parliament for approval.
In its response, the ECP has said that a third-party audit of the pilot project was also conducted on the orders of the Supreme Court, according to which the report states that e-voting is not secure and the secrecy of the vote cannot be maintained. It is the prerogative of the Parliament to decide what method it adopts for overseas voting. If the Parliament wishes, it can also make a law for voting in embassies for overseas Pakistanis, it said.
While submitting its response, the Election Commission has requested that the petitions filed against the Election Amendment Act be dismissed.
It should be noted that PTI founder Sheikh Rashid and lawyer Dawood Ghaznavi have challenged the amendment denying the right to vote to overseas citizens.
