Rs 258 bln to be incurred on EVMs, ECP told

ISLAMABAD (APP): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was informed on Thursday that a sum of Rs 258 billion would be incurred on procuring and other related expenditures of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
The meeting of the ECP chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja was briefed about the roadmap and plan of action right from procuring to use the EVMs in the elections.
The ECP decided to conduct pilot testing of EVMs, consult all stakeholders and take them into confidence regarding the EVMs’use.
The forum was briefed about plans of storage, selection, maintenance and configuration of EVMs and difficulties and stages of delivery at polling stations.
The Commission was further informed that the establishment of Project Management Unit had been approved and the services of three officers were being hired in this regard.
The Commission expressed satisfaction over the report and decided to ensure completion of RFP for procurement of EVMs and tendering process for pilot project.
The forum decided to complete the process of procuring EVMs keeping in view the quality, secrecy and security of machines that too by complying with the relevant rules and regulations.
The three committees constituted to implement the recently passed laws related to use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Internet voting for overseas Pakistanis presented their reports to the forum. The secretary election commission briefed the commission on those reports of the committees.
Regarding Overseas Voting, the relevant committee submitted four proposals to the Election Commission – stressing the need for further legislation included Internet voting; postal voting; on line voting in embassies; Electronic postal ballot and voting.
The committee also proposed separate Electoral College and Reserved Seats for Overseas Pakistanis.
Apart from members of Election Commission, Secretary Election Commission and other senior officers attended the meeting.