EC denies reports of re-registration portal hack

The Elections Commission (EC) on Sunday said that there is no truth in the reports that the re-registration portal for the runoff in the presidential election has been hacked.

The opportunity to re-register for the second round of voting has closed, starting from last Friday till 4pm on Sunday. More than 25,000 applications have been received, the Elections Commission said on Sunday.

The opposition PPM-PNC and The Democrats have also expressed concern that the number of re-registration is unusually high. After meeting with the EC members, the PPM-PNC told reporters that the EC's system had been hacked and the commission's IT consultant confirmed it.

However, EC Vice-President Ismail Habeeb denied the allegations.

Habeeb said access to the re-registration portal will not be given to a former member of the Elections Commission or anyone not concerned.

“The EC will have the ability to detect and resolve any attacks to hack the online re-registration portal for the presidential election,” Habeeb said.

Habeeb also urged people not to spread untrue news about the re-registration portal.

The EC released the following information on Sunday:

So far, 10,271 people have been re-registered, Habeeb said. Of the re-registration applications, 1,546 have been rejected and returned for various reasons, he said.