Overseas Pakistanis return to cast votes

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Mian Shafqat Javed is one of hundreds of enthusiastic overseas Pakistanis who are currently in their native country not this time to see relatives or friends, but to cast votes in the July 25 elections.

According to Pakistani election rules, around 9 million overseas Pakistanis cannot vote online or through postal ballot. Their physical presence in the country is a must for taking part in the process.

“This is totally unjust and illogical,” Javed, a Pakistani-origin businessman living in Denmark, told Anadolu Agency. “Online voting or postal ballot is a common phenomenon for overseas citizens around the world.”

Pakistani law allows its citizens to have a dual nationality.

“I have come to cast my vote because we care for our native country, and want to be part of the process of choosing the leadership,” added Javed, a supporter of the right-wing Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf Party (PTI) party of former cricket star Imran Khan.

Zulfikar Ali Jutt, who works in Saudi Arabia, shares similar views.

“It takes a lot of money and time to come over here and cast our votes. That’s why only a few hundred can make it, while millions of others stay away from the process,” said Jutt, who supports the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) of former three-time Premier Nawaz Sharif.

“Overseas Pakistanis send billions of dollars annually to the country in the form of remittances. We want to be part of the election process, but the governments don’t want that,” he added.

- Hitches and glitches

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court is currently hearing multiple petitions seeking voting right for overseas Pakistanis.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), which is responsible for maintaining citizens’ identification records, proposed an online voting system for overseas Pakistanis earlier this year, which invited concerns from IT experts.

“The matter is pending in the Supreme Court, and the next hearing is after July 25. That means there is no online voting facility for overseas Pakistanis in the upcoming elections,” Faiq Ali, a NADRA official, told Anadolu Agency.

“We still believe that the system we have developed is the best possible. There might be some small things which can be fixed in consultation with IT experts,” he said.

“If the Supreme Court gives us a go-ahead, this system is likely to be tested in the by-elections,” he added.

Earlier, Ali said, the government was considering introducing electronic voting system for overseas Pakistanis in Europe, the U.S., the Gulf, and other regions, but this could not be implemented for multiple reasons.

“The time difference, and local laws -- mainly in Gulf states -- were the key reasons behind withdrawal of that proposal,” he added.

Above all, he said, even if the government managed to set up polling stations in every city abroad, it would be impossible to gather such a huge number of people for voting on a single day.

- Legitimate concerns

Another NADRA official who spoke to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity called some of the security experts’ concerns over proposed online voting systems “legitimate.”

The top concern, he said, is what happens if the system is hacked on Election Day.

Secondly, he added, is what would happen if the voters’ passwords are compromised.

Thirdly, he said, the confidentiality of votes has not been assured in the proposed NADRA system.

“In this system, anyone can vote on behalf of anyone – with consent or by stealing their password,” he added.

“We are trying to address these concerns, which we believe are legitimate, before the next Supreme Court hearing,” said the official.