Federal Minister for Science and Technology Senator Shibli Faraz has said that the law is clear that the 2023 election will be held through Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and rejected the claims of Rs150 billion expense on EVMs.

He stated that it is up to the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) to decide which machine to use, adding that EVM can also be used in by-elections, while India started using EVMs long ago.

The minister said that the PPP and PML-N have not even talked about the use of technology till date but the government led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has taken practical steps.

Shibli Faraz went on to say that the law is clear that the election of 2023 will be held through EVM, adding that now it is the job of the ECP to implement as this should have started from 2017.

“The ECP will now have to start the process, he said adding that the machines have been made according to the parameters given by the ECP.

The minister further said that the Elections Act 2017 clearly states that electronic voting machine can be used and the law has been passed now. The ECP should release tender for the machines. “We have manufactured the 90 machine in a day and if the institution tries, 60,000 can be manufactured in a month.”