Morning rush fades as afternoon voting saw thin crowds
According to the Election Commission, voting was held at 36,031 centres out of 42,651 polling centres across the country. Turnout reached 47.91% by 2pm. Voters who were inside polling stations at the closing time were allowed to cast their ballots.
Voter turnout remained modest nationwide as voting concluded at 4:30pm, with many centres reporting a sharp decline in voter presence by the afternoon.
According to the Election Commission, voting was held at 36,031 centres out of 42,651 polling centres across the country. Turnout reached 47.91% by 2pm. Voters who were inside polling stations at the closing time were allowed to cast their ballots.
Polling began at 7:30am. While turnout was low in the early hours, it gradually increased through the morning, with long queues forming at some centres by midday. However, the momentum slowed noticeably in the afternoon.
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At around 3:30pm, no voters were seen for several minutes at the Udayan School polling centre on the Dhaka University campus, our correspondent reported.
A similar picture emerged at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College in Azimpur around 3:45pm, where only a handful of voters were making their way upstairs to vote.
One female voter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said she opted to vote later in the day as the morning had appeared more crowded.
At Dhaka College centre, turnout also thinned by 4pm, with only a small number of voters present.
A polling officer told The Business Standard that turnout at the centre had not exceeded 40% as of 4pm.
In Savar, the turnout was also low.
In contrast, Mohammadpur saw relatively stronger participation late in the day, with voters still lined up after 4pm waiting to cast their ballots.
Outside the capital, several centres reported a similar afternoon slowdown.
In Khulna's Paikgachha upazila, Presiding Officer Iqbal Hossain at Lakshmikhola Collegiate School centre in Loskar union said the morning witnessed heavy voter pressure.
"By around 12:30pm, 2,300 votes had been cast out of 3,799 registered voters at the centre, amounting to roughly 65.5% turnout," he said.
He noted that voter flow declined significantly afterwards.
In Khulna, most centres became largely empty by the afternoon. In many cases, the bulk of votes had been cast by 2pm, with only 10 to 15 additional votes recorded later at some centres.
In Chattogram, a similar trend was observed.
At Ambagan Railway Employees Girls' High School centre in the city, around 30% of votes were cast in the first four hours of polling until 12pm. Over the next three hours until 3:30pm, only about 4% additional votes were recorded, indicating a clear drop in voter presence as the day progressed.
Correspondents visiting multiple centres across the city after noon reported largely thinning crowds.
According to data from the offices of Chattogram's returning officers, voter turnout across 16 parliamentary constituencies stood at 26.30% by 1pm. By 3:30pm, the rate had risen to 44%.
In Bogura, turnout was comparatively strong during the first half of the day but declined in the afternoon.
Within the first six and a half hours of voting, an average of 53.14% ballots were cast across the district's seven constituencies, excluding postal ballots.
Additional District Election Officer Asia Khatun said voting had been conducted peacefully since morning and described voter presence as satisfactory.
However, visits to several centres around 4pm showed reduced activity.
At Sultanaganj High School centre in Bogura-7 constituency, which had seen heavy crowds in the morning, only a small number of voters remained in line by late afternoon. Voters arriving at that time reported no waiting time.
