ISLAMABAD: A controversy over the failure of a plan to obviate vote fraud through introduction of biometric system in last year’s general elections took a new twist on Friday when the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) traded charges over what is being termed the magnetised ink fiasco.

During a meeting of the parliamentary committee on electoral reforms held here to consider a set of reforms to ensure free, fair and transparent elections, the ECP criticised the quality of ink supplied by the PCSIR. But a representative of the council insisted that it had manufactured the ink in accordance with the specifications given by the commission.

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The PCSIR argued that the ECP was responsible for transporting the magnetised ink to polling stations, alluding that something had gone wrong during the process.

An ECP official said after the meeting that the PCSIR had informed only after the elections that the validity of the ink was six hours after the opening and insisted that this was the major cause of a large number of votes becoming unverifiable.

He, however, conceded that lack of training of the polling staff could also be blamed because different inks had to be used for taking thumb impressions of voters on the ballot papers and the counterfoils.

The introduction of biometric verification system had given the hope that bogus votes would be traced and impersonators punished, but the verification of votes in some constituencies in Sindh by the National Database and Registration Authority indicated that the magnetised ink had not been used and as a result, thousands of votes in these constituencies could not be verified.

Members of the parliamentary committee questioned the quality of ink used and asked why polling staff had not been properly trained when an otherwise good plan had been developed for voters’ verification system.

A member of the committee told Dawn that another meeting would be held on Sept 29 and officials of the Printing Corporation of Pakistan had been called to explain their position about allegations of printing of fake ballot papers being levelled by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

The committee also sought a report from the ECP on allegations about role of returning officers in alleged rigging.

Published in Dawn, September 20th , 2014