Rangpur city polls: Polling time extends by 4 hours due to slow EVMs
Around 50%-55% of voters cast their votes till 4pm in the RCC polls
The election commission extended the polling time in the Rangpur City Corporation election by four hours due to the slow functioning of the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
On Tuesday, voting began at 8.30am and was supposed to end at 4.30pm. But the polling time was extended till 8.30pm as many voters were still standing in the queues waiting to cast their vote after the end of the stipulated hours.
Authorities said that only around 55% of votes were cast till 4.30pm due to the slow speed of the EVMs.
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Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal told reporters at the Election Commission Building in the capital's Agargaon, "Voting process in EVMs was slow due to two reasons- a mismatch of fingerprints and high voter turnout. Today, voter turnout was high in Rangpur, which is in fact a positive sign."
"Around 50%-55% of voters cast their vote till 4pm. The total turnout could be more than 60%. Moreover, we have seen a competitive and peaceful election today," he added.
Earlier, the CEC said while monitoring the election via CCTV cameras, "We observed that many EVMs faced technical problems. The voting process in EVMs is slower than that of ballots."
Explaining the slowness of EVMs, he said, "The matching of the fingerprint is a must for EVMs, which is ensured through biometrics. This process is completely absent in case of ballots."
"However, the positive feature of EVMs is that there is no scope for vote rigging here. It is not possible for someone to cast a vote for another person," he added.
Kazi Habibul Awal further said, "We have said that all those who will be within the boundary of the polling centres till 4:30pm will be given chances to cast their vote."
"We have observed massive enthusiasm and excitement among the voters. Law enforcement personnel have been cooperating with us since the beginning. They are on high alert. So far, no untoward incident occurred," the CEC added.
Meanwhile, votes were still being counted at 10pm while the report was being written. Till then, Md Mostafizur Rahman who competed in the polls with the plough symbol was topping the table with 75,732 votes. His nearest competitor was Md Amiruzzaman who got 26,631 votes with the symbol of hand-fan. Besides, Hosne Ara Lutfa Dalia with the boat symbol was in fourth position by getting 12,308 votes.
