Voter presence thin, slow voting due to EVMs as Khulna and Barishal go to polls
The presence of voters has been thin since morning as Khulna and Barishal City Corporations went to polls on Monday (12 June). The voting process has also been slow as many voters faced difficulties in casting their votes using electronic voting machines (EVMs).
In both city corporations, voting started at 8am and will continue till 4pm.
More than eight lakh voters of the two city corporations will elect their preferred candidates for the post of mayor and ward councillors.
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The Election Commission is directly monitoring the voting situation in Khulna and Barishal City Corporation elections through CCTV footage from the control room installed in the election building.
"Khulna and Barisal City Corporation Elections are being conducted in a fair and free environment," said Election Commissioner Md Ahsan Habib Khan.
"All steps have been taken to make the election fair. We hope that polling will be completed peacefully and fairly," Khulna City Corporation Election Returning Officer MD Alauddin said.
Asma Akhter came to Khalishpur Secondary Girls' School in Khulna at 7:30am and stood in the queue. She could not vote till 10am.
"I have been standing in line since morning. Only the lines are growing, voting is slow. Not more than 25 to 30 people could vote in an hour," she said.
According to the presiding officer, a total of 2,019 voters are under the centre. 25 votes were counted in the first hour.
A similar situation was observed at Islamabad Collegiate School centre in Khulna There are 2,094 voters. A total of 170 votes were cast till 9:30am. However, there were about 150 people standing in line.
Presiding Officer Mithun Sarkar said, "Many voters are being slow in casting their votes due to EVM, the overall process is getting delayed by this."
He said that voter turnout has been good, but the voting process is slow.
The situation is the same in Govt MM City College centre. Only 35 votes were cast in the first hour and a half. However, hundreds of voters were seen standing in line.
In the Khulna City Corporation election, 136 candidates are contesting for the post of councillors in 31 general wards and 39 candidates for the post of women councillors in 10 reserved wards, along with 5 mayoral candidates.
The 5 candidates competing for the post of mayor in this election are Talukdar Abdul Khalek from Bangladesh Awami League, Md Shafiqul Islam Madhu from Jatiya Party, Md Abdul Awal from Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Zaker Party candidate M Sabbir Hossain and SM Shafiqur Rahman as an independent candidate.
There are 1,732 polling booths in 289 polling stations in 31 wards of the city. A total of 2,310 CC cameras have been installed for round-the-clock monitoring of polling stations.
5 lakh 35 thousand 529 voters will exercise their right to vote in this election. Among them 2 lakh 66 thousand 696 female voters and 2 lakh 68 thousand 833 male voters.
A total of 4 thousand 820 policemen and 3 thousand 467 Ansar members are on duty for the election. Apart from this, BGB and RAB members have also been deployed.
"Initially 7 policemen and 12 Ansars have been deployed in each important centre and 7 policemen and 10 Ansars have been deployed in other ones. Apart from this, 71 mobile patrol teams, 20 additional mobile teams, striking force and standby force are on the ground in each police station," Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP) Commissioner Masudur Rahman Bhuiyan said.
Meanwhile, Jatiya Party (Ershad) backed mayoral candidate in Barishal City Corporation (BCC), Iqbal Hossain Taposh and independent candidate Kamrul Islam Rupon alleged that voters are being barred from coming to the polling stations, reports UNB.
Agents were forced to leave the centres, the candidates said shortly after the election began amid much enthusiasm.
They also said the process to vote was slow at the polling stations.
Taposh who is contesting with the electoral symbol "plough" alleged that women voters are being barred from coming to the polling stations.
"Activists of Chhatra and Jubo League are barring the voters and their target is a low voter turnout," he claimed, saying that voters are being discouraged and intimidated outside the polling centres.
The number of voters in Barishal City is 274,995. Among them, 138,071 are female voters and 136,924 are male voters.
126 polling stations have been set up in the city. There are 116 candidates for the councillor post. There are 42 reserved women councillor candidates.
Seven people are contesting for the post of mayor in the Barishal city elections. They are Abul Khair Abdullah (Bangladesh Awami League), Md Kamrul Ahsan (Independent) Mufti Syed Md Faizul Karim (Islami Andolan Bangladesh), Md Ali Hossain Howlader (Independent), Mizanur Rahman Bachchu (Zaker Party), Md Iqbal Hossain (JatiyaParty) and Md Asaduzzaman (Independent).
