The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has estimated the cost for the upcoming 2023 general elections will be Rs 47.41 billion, the next general elections will likely be the most expensive ballot in the history of Pakistan.

The cost of the general elections has witnessed an almost Rs 47 billion increase during the span of 15 years.

“The fundamental reasons for the increase in expenditure of general elections was inflation, increase in the number of voters, polling stations and use of technology,” said Kanwar Dilshad Former Secretary, Election Commission of Pakistan.

He further added that the total estimated expenses in the 2008 general elections were Rs 1 billion, However, it was jacked up to Rs 31 billion in the 2018 elections.

When asked a question about the expenditure of early elections in the country, the ex-secretary replied that the cost of elections would be the same whether it is early elections or timely.

When Supreme Court asked ECP to conduct elections in 90 days, the ECP told the court that in 90 days we can only rely on 2018’s delimitation as the time period is not enough, ECP told the court that the commission would take a minimum of four months to conduct the delimitation and another 90 days for the general elections.

The ECP gave a breakdown of 47.41 billion expense for the general elections in 2023, as Pakistan Army is foreseeing the security of 1 lakh polling stations, around one million security personnel, including around 20,000 private security guards, will be deployed at polling stations, the security expense will be Rs 15 billion, the Ballot papers will cost Rs4.83 billion, the Personnel training will cost Rs1.79 billion.

While provincial elections cost the most in Punjab by Rs 9.65 billion, following Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by Rs 3.95 billion and Sindh by Rs 3.65 billion, the Balochistan elections will cost Rs 1.11 billion.

Electronic Voting Machine (EVM)

The employment of Electronic voting machines for general elections and international voters accounts requires a significant expense.

Nearly Rs250 billion will be spent on electronic voting machines (EVMs) and their related expenses, while overseas voting operations are likely to cost Rs100 billion, says the former secretary.

The ECP estimates that the poll body would be in need of some 800,000 to 900,000 EVMs, with three machines at each polling booth. ECP officials counted 121.2 million registered voters on November 4, 2021, expecting an increase of 14% voters by October 2023, which would place the total number of registered voters at 133 million.

“EVMs cannot be implemented in a short time frame as the risk of failure is too high. Several countries have been unsuccessful in their attempt to implement the technology, with multiple reasons for failure, from poor vendor selection to deficient project management to inexperience,” said former secretary ECP.

The EVMs carry a huge risk as the clarity of elections can be compromised, and the online devices can be tampered with or hacked, which may not justify the price and use of it.