Turnout finally 41.8%: CEC invites challenge if any doubt

Voter turnout at the 12th parliamentary election finally stood at 41.8%, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said yesterday and invited anyone to challenge in case of any doubt. 

The CEC presented this figure at a press conference at the EC Secretariat though on the election day he presented a rough turnout estimate of 40%.   

"If anyone has any doubt [over the turnout figure], he can challenge it and check it himself," Awal told the media. 

On Sunday, at a post-polls briefing around 5:30pm, the CEC told reporters that the voter turnout was roughly 40%. Before this, EC Secretary Md Jahangir Alam estimated 27.15% turnout at 3:15pm, nearly an hour before voting concluded. 

At that briefing, the CEC first said the figure was 28%, which the EC secretary corrected to be 40%.

Asked about the big jump in turnout data in just an hour, the CEC said yesterday, "I had said the turnout was 40% yesterday only when I was corrected. I had also said that the figure may change as the final percentage comes later." 

Awal criticised some media outlets for twisting his comments and asked journalists to consider the matter with objectivity and integrity. 

There is no use of the preliminary estimates when the final figure is available, he said. 

"The figure can be calculated easily by averaging the number of polled votes and the number of contestants in the 300 constituencies," he pointed out.  

''Even after that, you can scrutinise the figure, if there is any suspicion on whether we have presented it rightly or not."

At yesterday's briefing, the CEC said out of the 299 constituencies, results for 298 are available. 

The result for Mymensingh-3 constituency has been postponed and the result will be declared after a re-election is held at a centre on 13 January, Awal said.