Petition filed in Pakistan to not acquire voting machines from India

LAHORE: A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court seeking an order for Pakistan Election Commission to not acquire electronic voting or biometric machines from an Indian company.

In a writ petition filed on behalf of a citizen, advocate Azhar Siddique said the Pakistan Election Commission (ECP) opened bidding to acquire the electronic voting machines since it intended to hold the next general election on biometric system.

"Three Indian companies - Indra Kamra, Reliance and Morpho - have also submitted their bids and ECP is likely to approve bids of the Indian companies and choose one of them. It will be dangerous for Pakistan's security if electronic voting and thumb impression machines are purchased from Indian companies," the petitioner said.

He argued that the electronic voting system should not be acquired from any Indian company for security concerns and appealed the court to stop the ECP from acquiring the system from the Indian company.

The court will fix the date for hearing next week, a court official said.

Meanwhile, an ECP spokesman said no Indian company has been shortlisted for the project so far. "The biometric machines will be acquired after security clearance," he said.