The Supreme Court has requested a progress report from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) regarding efforts to enable e-voting for overseas Pakistanis. The report is to be submitted within two weeks. The directive came during a hearing before a five-member constitutional bench, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan.
During the proceedings, the ECP raised concerns about the security of e-voting for overseas Pakistanis, declaring it unsafe. The ECP’s Director of IT informed the court that the system is vulnerable to large-scale hacking. He explained that after consulting international experts, a trial run of e-voting was conducted in 35 constituencies. The findings from this trial were submitted to the Senate Committee.
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The Director revealed that during the trial, the e-voting system faced significant cyberattacks within one to three hours of operation. These hacking attempts reportedly originated from India, Israel, and the Philippines. Following a review of the trial report, the Senate Committee advised against implementing e-voting due to the security risks identified.
The Supreme Court’s request for a progress report underscores the ongoing debate over the feasibility and safety of e-voting for overseas Pakistanis, as concerns over cybersecurity remain a major hurdle.
