2nd phase Upazila polls today

The second phase of the country's sixth Upazila Parishad Election in 156 upazilas of 63 districts will be held today (21 May).

In this phase, candidates are desperate to bring voters to the centres and the Election Commission has made all kinds of preparations to draw voters' attention as they failed in the first phase. 

The voter turnout in the first phase was the lowest in a decade and a half, with only 36.1% of votes cast in 139 upazilas on 8 May. 

The voter turnout for the last parliamentary election was also low at 41.8%. Therefore, the issue of voter reluctance became a topic of discussion as the first phase of the upazila election was marked by low turnout.

Although the Awami League did not field candidates with the party's electoral symbol, the boat, only ruling party members participated in this election. No other party had as many candidates in either the first or second phase, leading to competition primarily among the ruling party's leaders. Additionally, relatives of many ministers and parliament members are running as candidates.

Candidates and the Election Commission failed to draw voters to the centers in the first phase. In 63 out of 139 upazilas, there was no contest, with the winning candidate having a margin of over 10,000 votes over their nearest rival.

Election Commissioner Md Alamgir noted that various factors contributed to low voter turnout. The boycott by the BNP meant their activists and supporters did not participate. Other reasons included voters' reluctance to leave their offices for local elections, the paddy harvesting season, and hostile weather.

According to the EC data, after the Awami League-led grand alliance came to power 15 years ago, the voter turnout was 68.32% in the third upazila parishad election in 2009. Then in the fourth upazila election held in 2014, the vote was 61%. And in 2019, the voter turnout was 40.22% for the first time in the upazila elections. This time the voter turnout in the first phase fell to 36%, which is the lowest.

In the second phase, 1,824 candidates are competing in 156 upazila parishads. Among them are 603 candidates for chairman, 693 for vice chairman, and 528 for female vice chairman positions. 

Twenty-two candidates, including seven chairmen, eight vice-chairmen, and seven women vice-chairmen, were elected unopposed.

Some 3,52,04,748 people will exercise their voting rights in 13,016 centres. Voting will take from 8:00am to 4:00pm without any break.

Meanwhile, election equipment including ballot papers has already been sent to 697 centres in some remote upazilas. And, ballot papers to the remaining 12,323 centres are scheduled to be sent on voting day.