EMS 'glitch' gives lie to tall claims about fail-safe system
Pakistan
Due to system failure, only 37 results could be announced in 18 hours after closure of polling
LAHORE (Web Desk) – The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has failed again to deliver in time results of elections despite tall claims of no reliance on internet.
According to reports, the Election Management System (EMS) this time round failed to deliver just as happened with the Result Transmission System of 2018.
The incompetence of the watchdog’s staff hampered election staff to upload results in time as a result of which 37 results could be announced in 18 hours after closure of polling on Thursday.
In the evening, an ECP official embarrassingly said the presiding officers would now “physically” send the results of their polling stations to returning officers, where they would be transmitted “once internet service is restored.”
The ECP failure caused humiliation to the nation as a large number of local and foreign journalists were present in the media cell set up at its head office in Islamabad awaiting results.
The chief election commissioner was to address a press conference to announce first official result but had to withdraw and instead Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal did the job around 3am.
Later, in a brief statement, the secretary blamed the suspension of internet and mobile phone services for the delay in the compilation and announcement of results.
Interestingly, ECP Additional Director General (Monitoring & Evaluation) Haroon Khan Shinwari claimed that the watchdog was committed to ensuring the timely announcement of the results.
He said the results from remote areas could take more time but those from the cities would be finalised by Thursday night.
Talking to state-run PTV, he claimed that the Election Management System set up for results was not reliant on internet connectivity.
But it proved a misstatement and created doubts about the real outcome of the election and authenticated claims of rigging in elections 2024.
Also read: Securing personnel and ballots caused delay in result announcement, clarifies interior ministry
The Federal Ministry of Interior put doubts at rest on Friday about delay in the announcement of election results saying that it was “due to securing the personnel and the ballots.”
