Dawn reports this morning that Pakistan's Election Commission's (ECP) decision to involve the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in a program to computerize electoral rolls using a computerized national identity card database has come under intense criticism.
Both the Interior Ministry and the Economic Affairs Division opposed the partnership, saying the computerization of the voter rolls jeopardized the privacy of the data. In shades of Egypt's anger at NDI, IRI, and the like for running unregistered, those who opposed the plan said the partnership was begun despite not "completing legal formalities."
For IFES to have access to the personal data included in the voter rolls, there must be written consent from every constituent, according to one Pakistani legal expert.
The controversy between the ECP and IFES predates the current NGO crisis in Egypt, however, and dates back to 2007 when a private firm, Kalsoft, "not only failed to deliver a fully functional computerized electoral roll system but also failed to provide error-free rolls," according to a memo sent from ECP to the Prime Minister's office. Kalsoft, instead of modernizing the voting rolls, created a number of deficiencies that required substantial financial and technical assistance. At that point, IFES offered its technical assistance on the matter.
According to ECP sources, the commission was receiving technical assistance from IFES but did not give the foreign organization access to the national database.
Expect reluctance to accept help from US-funded democracy organizations or their utilization as a political football to spread throughout the world, especially in places where the ruling elite may not be particularly warm to the idea of true democratization.
Both the Interior Ministry and the Economic Affairs Division opposed the partnership, saying the computerization of the voter rolls jeopardized the privacy of the data. In shades of Egypt's anger at NDI, IRI, and the like for running unregistered, those who opposed the plan said the partnership was begun despite not "completing legal formalities."
For IFES to have access to the personal data included in the voter rolls, there must be written consent from every constituent, according to one Pakistani legal expert.
The controversy between the ECP and IFES predates the current NGO crisis in Egypt, however, and dates back to 2007 when a private firm, Kalsoft, "not only failed to deliver a fully functional computerized electoral roll system but also failed to provide error-free rolls," according to a memo sent from ECP to the Prime Minister's office. Kalsoft, instead of modernizing the voting rolls, created a number of deficiencies that required substantial financial and technical assistance. At that point, IFES offered its technical assistance on the matter.
According to ECP sources, the commission was receiving technical assistance from IFES but did not give the foreign organization access to the national database.
Expect reluctance to accept help from US-funded democracy organizations or their utilization as a political football to spread throughout the world, especially in places where the ruling elite may not be particularly warm to the idea of true democratization.
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