PPP raises alarm over planned use of new poll result app
ISLAMABAD: Days after the belated test trial of the new Election Management System (EMS), the PPP has raised alarm over the plan.
In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, head of the PPP central election cell Senator Taj Haider brought to notice, his party’s serious objections to the introduction of a completely new and unfamiliar application (EMS Mobile App) for electronic transmission of results.
“We apprehend that a situation similar to that of the failure of RTS in 2018 elections can emerge which like the general elections 2018 will be used for massive rigging of the results besides causing long delays in compiling of the provisional results by the returning officers,” the letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn, reads.
The letter points out that the EMS application was a completely unfamiliar app supposed to be used for the first time in general elections.
It said Presiding Officers (POs) and assistant POs have to be equipped with mobile phones of a definite category (Android 6 or above) since the EMS App was not compatible with every smartphone.
“POs and assistant POs will have to take quite a few steps and make entries on their mobile phones in order to make the cameras on their mobile phones operational,” it reads.
The PPP has demanded that EMS Mobile App for electronically transmitting Result of Count (Form 45) should not be used and in its place, the familiar WhatsApp application which is available on almost every smartphone should be used.
Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2024
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