116-year-old Latif Pyada of Barishal says he did not miss a single vote in his life
I did not need to seek anyone’s help today to cast the vote, he said
"I remember being just 21 years old when I started voting. I haven't missed a single election since then," said Latif Pyada, a 116-year-old resident of Barishal's Char Aicha area.
This morning, he sat outside the polling station in his hometown, holding a walking stick, after casting a vote for his favourite candidate.
Latif is among the 57 voters of Moazzem Hossain High School in Barishal Sadar's Shahestabad union.
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His children brought him along today.
"Years ago, one person would often cast votes for another. Even then, I insisted on showing up. I told them that I'm an old man and I wish to vote for my chosen candidate. I did not need to seek anyone's help today to cast the vote," he said.
"If it continues like this, the golden days of voting will return," the elderly man hoped.
Besides Latiful, the Moazzem Hossain High School has 2,461 other registered voters. 57 votes were cast in the first hour of the polling that started at 8am, said Neel Kamal Mandal, the presiding officer of the centre.
"Due to rainfall early in the morning, there was a lower turnout. As the rain stopped, the number of voters started to increase. Voting is proceeding smoothly at the centre without any interference." he added.
Earlier this morning, another elderly, the 92-year-old Uzufa Beowa, cast her vote in the Biyanabona centre of Rajshahi's Godagari upazila.
"We are happy to be able to cast our votes. The person I voted for will win," said Uzufa, moving outside the centre with a walking stick.
The first phase of the country's sixth Upazila Parishad election is currently underway in 139 upazilas of 59 districts in the country.
The voting started at 8am and will continue until 4pm. Voter turnout was low this morning due to rain in two upazilas of Barishal and two upazilas of Lakshmipur.
Some 1,630 candidates, including nearly 570 chairman contenders, are in the electoral race in the 139 upazilas against a total of 417 posts – chairman post, vice chairman, and women vice chairman posts in each.
In the 139 upazilas, 22 are using electronic voting machines (EVMs) while the rest are using ballot papers.
The centre where Latif cast his vote is using ballot papers.
