The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to use Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in Islamabad local body elections, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The Election Commission has written a letter to the Ministry of Science and Technology for the supply of EVMs. The Election Commission has requested 3900 electronic voting machines from the Ministry of Science and Technology.

According to sources, the Election Commission in a letter stating that the use of EVMs in local body elections has been made mandatory after the Presidential Ordinance.

3900 electronic voting machines will be used for the Islamabad mayor's seat, 3100 electronic voting machines will be required for all polling booths in the Capital territory. 

According to sources, first it was decided to use EVM only in the election of mayor seat in Islamabad local body elections.

The ECP will use EVMs at all polling booths of 800 polling stations for the election of the mayor seat. The ECP will keep 800 electronic voting machines for backup.

The letter said that the ministry should train polling staff including risk management, security mechanism and certification.

According to sources, the ECP has sought project management, support services, production of machines, testing of machines, quality control. The ECP has sought technical support from the Ministry of Science besides EVMs.