Fund crunch halts EVM voting plan in 150 seats

The initiative to expand electronic voting to 150 parliamentary seats in the upcoming national election has been put on hold, according to Election Commission officials citing the government's financial constraints and the ongoing economic downturn.

"We have been informed by the Planning Commission that the government is not moving ahead with the EVM [electronic voting machine] purchasing project at this moment," Election Commission Secretary Mohammad Jahangir Alam said at a media briefing on Monday.

The project is not being cancelled altogether, said the EC secretary. He said the EC will now proceed with its plan to use EVMs in 50-60 constituencies in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The decision of not pursuing the EVM project now has been made "after examining and reviewing the details of the EVM project and considering the financial capacity of the government in the current global context", Jahangir Alam said.

The current EC had decided to conduct voting in a maximum of 150 seats through EVMs in the upcoming national election. But as the commission did not have enough voting machines in stock, it approached the government last year with a proposal of procuring 2 lakh EVMs at an estimated cost of Tk8,711 crore.

There has already been a fair degree of political controversy surrounding electronic voting, and the high cost of purchasing 2 lakh EVMs has added fuel to the fire, with many questioning the wisdom of such a large expenditure amid a dollar crunch. Besides, fragile political confidence in the voting machine has been part of the EVM debate.

During the series of dialogues by the Election Commission with the political parties last year, the ruling Awami League said it wants voting through EVM in all 300 seats in the upcoming national elections.

On the other hand, The BNP, the key political opposition, referred to EVMs as "vote rigging machines". Of the 22 parties joining the dialogue with the EC, 15 parties including the Jatiya Party also categorically opposed their use.

Though Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal at the dialogue said most political parties did not support EVMs, the EC remained adamant on holding polls in 150 seats with electronic voting machines.

In a joint statement in September last year, 39 prominent citizens termed the EC's stance without political consensus "unreasonable". They also labelled EVM as a "weak-tech device".

At the Rangpur City Corporation election on 27 December last year, ballots in all the centres were cast through electronic voting machines. But the EVM test by the EC did not go well as voters were annoyed over fingerprint mismatches, slow voting and overall voting delay.

The CEC then said the EC accepted the fingerprint mismatch allegations, which he said "made them very worried" during the voting.

In similar inconveniences, voting at the Rangpur City Corporation elections in December stretched to 8pm due mostly to slow EVMs.

On Sunday, the Planning Commission informed the Election Commission about the decision of the government on EVM procurement, prompting the Election Commission to inform the media on Monday of the situation.