20% voter turnout in first four hours as Sylhet, Rajshahi go to polls
As Sylhet and Rajshahi city corporations went to polls today, voter turnout has been 20% in the first four hours, said Election Commissioner Begum Rashida Sultana.
"Voter turnout might stand at 40%," she said monitoring the city corporation polls through CCTVs on Wednesday (21 June).
Voting began at 8am and will continue till 4pm Wednesday in the two city corporations.
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Election Commissioners Brigadier General (Rtd) Ahsan Habib Khan, Md Alamgir and Rasheda Sultana are monitoring the election from the control room.
Rajshahi City Corporation election is being monitored through a total of 1463 cameras. Sylhet City Corporation election is being monitored through 1747 CC cameras.
Voting has been slow in many of the centres in Rajshahi due to EVM.
Govt Atokoshi High School Presiding Officer Sohel Rana said, "There are 2,804 voters in my centre. 630 votes were cast till 10:45am. Due to EVMs, polling is being delayed."
Two voters in this centre, Abul Hossain and Jabed said, "We have been standing in line since 8:30am in the morning. Couldn't vote yet. Who knows how long it will take.
2520 polling booths are being monitored simultaneously by 368 CC cameras through 23 digital display boards in both city corporations. Each display is auto-rotated every 10 seconds and thus the polling activities of 345 centre s are being monitored. Election monitoring is being done by installing one in each polling station and two in each polling station. No untoward incident has been reported in the election so far.
Voters have been waiting in line since 7:30am in the morning at Al-Jameya Ideal Academy centre in the newly added ward number 42 of Sylhet city.
M Sahid Ali, a voter from this centre, expressed the fear of trouble as the day progressed and said that he would cast his vote early and go home.
"I stood in line at 7am for this. Moreover, the weather is good today," he said.
At 10 am, it was found that the polling station was almost empty at Ambarkhana Girls School centre in Sylhet.
Dibendu Roy, the presiding officer of the centre said that the voter turnout was low.
The total number of voters in this centre is 2,834, 134 votes were cast in the first two hours.
He said that the number of voters may increase as the day progresses.
Similarly, there was low voter turnout at Durgakumar Pathshala. The presiding officer of this centre, Salim Ahmad, said by 11am, only 300 out of 3,200 votes were cast.
He said that the voter turnout was low in the morning. However, as the day progressed, attendance was seen to be increasing.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abul Momen voted at this centre at 10am. He expressed satisfaction with the voter turnout and said that the people who question voter turnout are not interested in voting.
"We have many voters. Many women came," he added.
He also commented that the election is being competitive.
Ohida Begum came to vote at Anand Niketan centre at 9:30 am on crutches.
Shipra Ghosh came to cast her first vote with her mother Shikha Ghosh at Pashwavartti Shahjalal Jamia Islamia Kamil Madrasa centre.
Stating low voter turnout, the joint general secretary of metropolitan Awami League and councillor candidate of ward no 20, Azadur Rahman Azad said, "Voters are coming to the centre less in old wards, but a lot of voters are coming to the centre in new wards."
Salim Ahmad, presiding officer of Ishrab Ali High School centre expressed satisfaction with the presence of voters.
However, he said that there have been delays due to EVM-related complications.
Shahjalal High School centre Presiding Officer Mohammad Omar Farooq, said that the voter turnout was good.
"However, there is a delay in the voting process due to EMV-related complications," he added.
He said that 20% of the 3,085 votes of this centre have been cast till 12pm.
Polling agents were seen coming to the centre since 7:30am in Rajshahi. Police and Ansar personnel have been deployed in many of the centres.
As voting started in Rajshahi, long lines of voters were seen at most centres. However, voter turnout is low in some centres. A long queue of voters can be seen at the centre of Jatiya Tarun Sangh Primary School. There are 3937 women voters in this centre. Polling is being held in 12 booths.
Jatiya Party agent Annie Rani Sarkar said that they have two agents in this centre.
Voters Ishmat Ara Dilu and Selima Begum said they were happy to vote.
Another voter, Sahida Ayesha said that she is voting in a new way this year.
"I did not receive any training for taking votes in EVMs," she said.
Eman Ali, 72 came to vote at Jatiya Tarun Sangh Primary School centre.
"The situation is normal here," he said.
Presiding officer Mizanur Rahman said, 18 EVMs have been installed for 12 booths.
Awami League nominated mayoral candidate AHM Khairuzzaman Liton cast his vote at Satellite Town High School in Rajshahi at 9:15 am.
"BNP made a mistake by not partaking in the election. They should have participated in the elections," he said while talking to reporters.
Khairuzzaman Liton said, he is 100% optimistic about winning.
"At least 60% will vote. Voters will vote for me to continue the trend of development," he added.
Khairuzzaman Liton, in response to the question of whether he is uncomfortable with the election environment, said that the polls are being held in a fair and orderly manner.
Shahmakhdum College Centre Presiding Officer Shahidur Rahman said, "We are ready for voting. Polling agents will be shown EVMs before voting starts."
For the first time in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) history, elections will be held via Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in all 155 centres, reports BSS.
There will also be Close Circuit Cameras in each of the centres.
The Regional Election Office has adopted all sorts of necessary preparations in coordination with all the authorities concerned, including law enforcement agencies, to make the election successful.
It has imparted training to 155 presiding officers, 1,153 assistant presiding officers and 3,459 polling officers.
A total of 3,51,982 voters will vote in 155 polling centres in 30 wards.
Returning Officer Delwar Hossain said a total of 161 candidates remained in the election race. Of them, three for mayor, 112 for general councillors in 30 wards and 46 for 10 reserved seats for women councillors.
The mayoral candidates are - Bangladesh Awami League nominated and former mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton (Boat), Jatiya Party candidate Saiful Islam Swapan (Plough) and Jaker Party candidate Latif Anwar (Rose).
Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) held a briefing parade at its police line ground largely attended by police, Ansar-VDP and others concerned on Tuesday morning.
The participants were given directions to perform their respective duties with utmost sincerity and honesty for a perfect election.
Authorities said they have completed all-out preparations to hold the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC)polls peacefully.
CCTV cameras have already been installed in each polling centre of the city corporation.
The total number of voters in the Sylhet City Corporation is 4,87,753. Voting will be held using EVMs in 190 centres under 42 wards of the city corporation."
