ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Friday passed the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which seeks to scrap electronic voting in elections and restrain overseas Pakistanis from participating in elections.

During the session chaired by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Murtaza Javed Abbasi moved both the bills, which were passed by the National Assembly on Thursday.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had made several amendments to the Election Act, 2017, including those that allowed the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and granted overseas Pakistanis the right to vote in general elections. Addressing the Senators, Tarar insisted that the voting right of the overseas Pakistanis has not been withdrawn. “This right is not abolished, it is still there,” he added.