Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the issue of rejected votes due to double stamping in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) local body elections came to the fore again.

In a tweet on Wednesday, he said that the same had emerged in the judicial commission report on the 2013 elections.

پختونخوا کےبلدیاتی انتخابات میں دوہرے نشان کےباعث مسترد ووٹوں کامسئلہ پھر سے سامنےآیاہے۔2013 کےعدالتی کمیشن کی رپورٹ میں بھی اسکی نشاندہی کی گئی تھی۔مخالف امیدوار کےووٹوں کومسترد کروا کر انتخاب میں دھاندلی کی صلاحیت ان وجوہات میں سےایک ہےجن کےباعث اسٹیٹس کو EVMs کی مخالفت کرتاہے۔ pic.twitter.com/q4mVQE5XFn

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) February 16, 2022

He said that the ability to manipulate elections by getting opponents’ votes rejected is one of the reasons the status quo opposes Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Last year, a joint session of parliament had ended with the House passing 33 bills, including controversial amendments in the Election Act, and deferring one bill.

The bills that were passed also included two of the opposition and the deferred bill was focused on election reforms.

The regular agenda of the joint sitting of the Parliament had 60 items including 29 bills and later on supplementary agenda was also introduced on the floor.

Read more: Parliament approves use of EVMs, voting rights to overseas Pakistanis amid ruckus

The Election (Second Amendment) Bill 2021 was among the few that were passed. It had been one of the most controversial bills of the government as it would enable the Election Commission of Pakistan to use EVMs in polls.

Another important bill that was passed was the International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Bill 2021. The opposition alleges that the bill was passed by the government to provide relief to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

The SBP Banking Services Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2021 also sailed through with a majority.