Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz said on Monday that the upcoming local government elections in the federal capital would be held using electronic voting machines.
Earlier, however, the minister had said that EVMs were only designed to conduct elections for national and provincial assemblies, not local governments.
The minister’s remarks came while he was addressing the media in Islamabad wherein he said the government was cooperating with the Election Commission of Pakistan regarding the use of EVMs.
“The commission will be provided with the machines next week for testing and training of staff for local government elections in Islamabad,” he said.
Faraz added that the ECP has also asked the Punjab government to make arrangements for the use of EVMs in its local government elections. “The use of EVMs in local government elections will ensure that the elections are possible through these machines,” he added. “
Responding to a question, Shibli said that a mechanism was also being evolved for i-voting in order to enable the overseas Pakistanis to exercise their right to franchise.
