Islambad:The Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs held a comprehensive discussion on granting overseas Pakistanis, including dual citizens, the right to vote in future elections. The meeting, presided over by Senator Dr. Mohammad Humayun Mohmand, highlighted the significance of extending voting rights to overseas Pakistanis ¹.
The Chairman emphasized that many countries successfully implement postal balloting and questioned why Pakistan could not adopt a similar mechanism. He noted that the current legal framework neither grants voting rights to dual citizens nor provides a system to facilitate their participation.
A representative from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) briefed the committee on past efforts, explaining that a third-party audit had previously advised against internet voting due to significant security concerns ². The Chairman suggested that postal balloting could be a viable solution for Pakistan, but ECP representatives cautioned that it could be prone to malpractice.
The committee discussed advanced electoral systems, citing Brazil’s progress in implementing modern technologies for elections. Senator Shibli Faraz emphasized the need for commitment to ensuring free and fair elections ¹. However, Senator Kamran Murtaza expressed reservations about amending laws and the Constitution to facilitate voting systems like postal balloting and electronic voting machines (EVMs) ¹.
