ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has called for expediting work on i-voting system to enable overseas Pakistanis to cast their votes from abroad.

He advised the concerned stakeholders to engage experts and determine timelines for introducing i-voting solutions in the country.

The president on Thursday, made these remarks, while chairing a meeting of sub-committee on emerging technologies on i-voting.

The meeting was attended by the Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication (IT&T), Syed Aminul Haq, Secretary Ministry of IT&T Dr Muhammad Sohail Rajput, Chairman NADRA, Brig Khalif Latif (retired), DG (IT) Election Commission of Pakistan, Khizer Aziz, senior officials of the government, and members of the advisory committee on i-voting.

The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) updated the president about the proposed solutions with regard to i-voting.

Addressing the meeting, the president highlighted that the Pakistani community greatly contributed to the development of the country by sending remittances but, unfortunately, they could not participate in the electoral process due to a lack of an efficient electoral mechanism in place.

In order to enable the overseas Pakistanis to cast their vote, the president underlined the need for devising an effective and fool-proof i-voting system, so that the Pakistani community could exercise their right to vote.

The president lauded the role of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for taking a keen interest in initiating electoral reforms.

He also appreciated the guidelines and technical support provided by the Ministry of IT&T and the NADRA on internet voting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021