Bogura witnesses 53% turnout in first 6.5 hours

Bogura recorded an average voter turnout of 53.14% across its seven constituencies in the first six and a half hours of voting in Thursday's national parliamentary elections, said election officials.

Additional District Election Officer Achiya Khatun confirmed the turnout at 2:30pm though postal ballots were not included in the percentage figure.

"Voting has been taking place peacefully since morning, and voter presence is satisfactory," she said.

Election office data shows that constituency like Bogura-1 recorded 50.79%, Bogura-2 51%, Bogura-3 52.98%, Bogura-4 55.87%, Bogura-5 51.19%, Bogura-6 56.34%, and Bogura-7 53.18% after voting opened at 7:30am across the district.

Bogura district comprises 12 upazilas and 12 municipalities. A total of 34 candidates from BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolon Bangladesh, Jatiya Party and other political parties are contesting the seven parliamentary seats.

There are 983 polling centres and 5,478 booths in the district — including 5,148 permanent and 330 temporary booths.

The district has 2,981,940 registered voters, including 1,480,871 men, 1,501,007 women and 42 third-gender voters.

Deputy Commissioner and District Returning Officer Md Toufiqur Rahman said CCTV cameras have been installed at all polling centres to ensure transparency.

To maintain law and order, authorities have deployed more than 2,500 police personnel, over 12,500 Ansar and VDP members, 24 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), more than 1,500 army personnel and over 250 Battalion Ansar members.

"The administration is on maximum alert to ensure voters can cast their ballots safely and without disruption," he added.