Elections 2024 have clearly indicated that there is something wrong with the election system of Pakistan. Are the processes wrong? Are the staff untrained? Is the Election Commission understaffed? Is the whole sys­tem outdated? Probably all of these is true.

All of this could have been avoided if there was a modern elections eco­system in place. The electoral process should be based on a comprehen­sive elections ecosystem. The attached diagram depicts such an eco­system. The most important element in the elections ecosystem is the “Election Stakeholders”. This includes the electoral college, the gov­ernment, the elections body, the contestants, the judiciary, observers, and more. Being the foremost, the “Electoral College” has been repre­sented in the elections ecosystem as a stakeholder by itself. An Electoral College is divided into “Constituencies” based on rules of a particular elec­tion. The process of “delimitation” of constituencies can be automated using ar­tificial intelligence. “Elections Statutes” include written or unwritten laws, rules, traditions, cultures, best practices, limitations, etc. These statutes have to be identified formally and built into the relevant processes and procedures. These processes and procedures are based on “Elections Algorithms” that have been derived internationally as part of the elections technology. The elections body should have a comprehensive view of the complete ecosystem to be able to make properly informed decisions. This should be done through a formal “enterprise architecture” of the ecosystem. A properly designed enterprise architecture will enable the elections body to take well-informed decisions. The elections process has to comply with a large set of laws, regulations, norms, expectations, and tra­ditions. “Compliance management” processes have to be designed and imple­mented as part of the elections ecosystem. The elections process is a high-risk process at all levels – international, regional, national, provincial, personal. Risk management is therefore very necessary in the elections process. Data is used and created in the elections process. Although the volumes of data are not large to be considered as a case of “big data”, the data is critical and sensitive. The data is a national asset and “data governance” is vital.

Many technologies are employed in elections. These technologies yield op­timal results only when used in synergy with each other. They pose their own risks which have to be mitigated through “technology governance”. This scribe is a pioneer in this domain having written the very first book ever on the sub­ject – Technology Governance – Concepts & Practices. It is available at Ama­zon. Elections require a host of skills. Formal “skills management” is therefore required. Elections require a complex and comprehensive “infrastructure” to be planned and conducted. This infrastructure comprises the very obvious el­ements like “facilities” including buildings, transportation, etc.

The single most important element in the infrastructure are the “process­es” that have to be formally identified, intelligently (re)designed, smartly doc­umented, properly implemented, thoroughly monitored, and supervised, regu­larly analysed, and continually improved. Some of these processes may need to be automated using “software” and “hardware”. Some processes may need the creation of specialized software. This specialized software includes the soft­ware needed for “i-Voting” – voting through the Internet. The adoption of i-Vot­ing for all voters will bring about huge savings in cost and time as well as in the efforts that are wasted in litigations. The hardware required for elections is largely off-the-shelf, except for what is being termed as EVM – electronic voting machine. An EVM is a very simple machine. With no connectivity to the outside world, an EVM is totally impenetrable. Research has indicated that EVMs can be manufactured completely indigenously at costs much lower that what is being suggested. The next vital element of the elections infrastructure is “connectiv­ity”. The entire ecosystem has to be efficiently, reliably, and securely connected.

“Logistics” is a vital aspect of the infrastructure. This takes a whole new shape if EVMs are used. The issue changes from the printing and shipping of ballot boxes and ballot papers to the storage, preparation, transportation and setting up of EVMs. Every election is a new experience. This experience has to be built up to ensure that mistakes are not repeated. A “knowledge­base” is therefore a necessary part of the elections infrastructure. The data that is collected by “monitoring” the processes and the operations has many uses. It can be used to compare against international “benchmarks” and to im­plement “quality assurance”. There need to be different mechanisms of getting feedback on the operations. These can be “suggestions”, “complaints”, and “whis­tleblowing”. All these can be inputs to the “internal audit” process, which itself is an important cog in the overall “assurance” process. If this ecosystem is imple­mented and automated to a relevant degree, any “electoral reform” will be imple­mentable however complex it may be. How can this ecosystem be implemented and what will be the cost? First, there has to be a will to find a way. The imple­mentation of this ecosystem has to be phase-wise, based on impact and impor­tance. The cost of this transformation will be justified by the savings made over a few elections. The issue of digitalization at ECP therefore needs to be addressed as a governance issue, not a mere digitalization issue.

This article has been possible due to research conducted at Alpha Think Tank Pakistan which is a volunteer body aiming at institutional reforms in Pakistan.

Azhar Zia-ur-Rehman
The writer is an international freelance consultant.