For first time, EC recounts EVM votes

The Election Commission (EC), for the first time, recalculated the voting result of Dhaka North City Corporation Ward 6 elections held using electronic voting machine (EVM) by the order of the electoral tribunal.

The EC on Sunday (6 November) in a press release claimed that the results of the EVMs have been re-counted for the first time in the election under the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) held on February 1, 2020.

Election Commission Joint Secretary SM Asaduzzaman sent the handout on Sunday.

Meanwhile, out of the 54 polling stations, the audit cards of four centres were reportedly misplaced.

As a result, the EC was unable to re-examine the results of the presiding officer on the day of polling along with the information stored on the identification of each individual voter.

Former Election Commissioner Brigadier General Sakhawat Hossain criticised the EC's claim that votes cast on EVMs can be recounted.

The EC Secretariat's notification said that although the votes were accepted in the EVMs, they can still be recounted.

"The Dhaka North and South City Corporation elections were held on February 1, 2020. A candidate from Ward 6 of Dhaka North filed a case in the Election Tribunal for recounting of votes. Hence, the tribunal ordered the recount," said the notice.

Following this order, the Election Commission formed a committee to conduct the recalculation. The committee completed the task at the Electoral Training Institute on 6 November in the presence of all concerned.

The concerned presiding officers, candidates, agents and their lawyers were present on the occasion.

Sealed bags of electoral material were opened during the recount, for which the audit card is inserted into the EVM machine and the result is checked and is compared with the result declared on election day.

The audit card result and the declared result were found identical. Though, the audit card of four centres could not be found.

Regarding the misplacement of the audit cards, Election Commissioner Md Alamgir said, there is no chance of the audit card disappearing from the sealed bag.

"The bag has to be opened by the presiding officer. If the card has been lost, legal action will be taken. It's not normal; it is unusual," he told the media.

When asked about the missing audit card, the head of the investigation committee and director general of Election Training Institute (ETI) Md Abdul Baten said that the sealed bag should contain the audit card plus the presiding officer's result sheet, and a printed copy of the result from the EVM.

"We opened the sealed bags in front of the presiding officer and candidates. Three or four audit cards are missing. But there was the result sheet of the presiding officer and the printed copy of the result from the EVM, which was put in the bag on the polling day. I counted it in front of everyone."

Former Election Commissioner Brigadier General Sakhawat Hossain, criticising the claim of vote recount, said, "The machine will always give the same result no matter how many times it is calculated."

"Only audit trails can be followed. Why does the EC want to establish the use of EVMs again and again? They want to vote in 150 EVMs. So what will happen to the remaining 150 seats?" he told The Business Standard adding that it will create chaos and division.

"As a result, no matter how good the EC's intentions are, their role will be questioned. Do they want a debate? People don't have confidence in the EC."

He also noted that under the current condition of the country, there is no reason to buy such machines worth Tk8,000 crores.

"Apart from this, the storage and maintenance of this machine will also cost a lot. It is a highly technical issue. It is nothing but a luxury at this point," added Sakhawat Hossain.

He further said, "Where is the problem in voting on paper? Even if you vote on paper, it is possible to catch fake votes, but EVMs cannot do that. Even if there are extra votes in the paper, they can be calculated through counting."

"Why use it even though 50% of the people don't want it? It is a slow process. As a result, fewer votes will be cast. We don't need such highly sophisticated machines," he remarked.