Islamabad:

The Election Commission in Pakistan (ECP) has requested the Supreme Court to reject petitions that challenge the removal of voting rights for overseas Pakistanis.

The electoral supervisor presented a written response to the supreme court in this regard. In his answer, the election targets stated that the petitions are challenging the recent changes to the Electoral Act. The Commission emphasized that it had already implemented a pilot project on Internet voting (I-Voting) during the October 2018 elections, whose results were submitted to parliament for review.

The ECP further stated that, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s Directive, a third -party audit was carried out of the pilot project. The audit report concluded that the I-poll system was neither secure nor able to secure the voter’s privacy.

It is the power of Parliament to determine the method that overseas Pakistanis can cast their votes, maintained the ECP, and added that the legislator, if deciding, adopts laws that allow overseas vote through embassies or in other ways.