Voters' turnout in Gazipur city polls likely to be 50%: EC Alamgir

Election Commissioner Md Alamgir said the voters' turnout in the Gazipur City Corporation polls might be 50%.

The election commissioner made these remarks while speaking to reporters at the Agargaon election building on Thursday. He mentioned that complete information regarding the turnout of all polling stations is not yet available, but it is expected that the turnout will be around 50%.

Addressing the fairness of the election, Md Alamgir stated that based on the information gathered from law enforcement agencies, election commission officials, the media, and election observers, it can be concluded that the Gazipur city election was conducted in a remarkably smooth and peaceful manner.

He further noted that all the candidates who participated in the election expressed their satisfaction with the electoral process and declared their willingness to accept the results, irrespective of the outcome.

Responding to concerns about the slow pace of voting, he explained, "According to election regulations, if voters are present at the polling station until the voting deadline, polling agents are required to wait until the vote is cast. These rules apply to both paper ballots and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)."

When asked if any irregularities were captured on CCTV, he said, "We detected certain issues such as long queues that gave certain individuals an advantage to cast their votes first. Immediate action was taken by contacting the relevant authorities over the phone."

Furthermore, he disclosed that at two centers, agents attempted to influence voters, prompting us to promptly intervene by notifying the police and ensuring their removal from the premises.

In addition, he emphasised that neither the Election Commission nor the police got any other reports of irregularities.

A total of 4,500 CCTVs were deployed to monitor the voting process in Gazipur City Corporation.

He explained, "Due to the sheer number of CCTVs, it was not feasible to monitor all of them simultaneously. Instead, we monitored approximately 300-400 CCTVs in stages. Consequently, some events may have gone unnoticed."

He regarded the implementation of CCTVs as a successful initiative by the Election Commission.

Regarding the allegation that Zayeda Khatun lacked agent at polling centers, he responded, "We have consulted with the media personnel stationed in Gazipur as well, and they have confirmed that no such incident occurred."

Earlier today, Md Alamgir expressed satisfaction regarding the Gazipur city polls on Thursday, stressing that no information of irregularities has been reported by far.

While talking to reporters at the election commission building this morning, he assured them that the polling has been going well by far.

When asked about complaints in regards to EVM and CCTV cameras, EC Alamgir argued that EVM being a machine can have malfunctions and it does.

Earlier, EC Md Alamgir, EC Rasheda Sultana and EC Ahsan Habib started monitoring the polls on CCTV cameras at 8am in the morning from the control room of the Election Commission. Later, EC Anisur Rahman joined them around 9am. CEC came after 9.30am.