Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah on Tuesday said there is no reason for concern over the election, as a festive atmosphere prevails nationwide with enthusiastic voter participation and unprecedented security measures in place.
“Voters’ preparations and enthusiasm are clearly visible. Just look at the trains in Dhaka today – a huge number of people are returning home only to cast their votes. The presence and excitement of voters, the engagement of political parties and their awareness... The polls have already turned into a festivity,” told a press briefing in the city’s Nirbachan Bhaban.
Sanaullah said the level of force and capacity deployed this time has never been seen before in Bangladesh. “Considering all these, I do not think there is any reason to be anxious.”
He, however, feared that isolated incidents could occur but the Commission is fully prepared to deal with any situation.
Arms Recovery
Sharing a statistics, the Election Commissioner said from December 13 to date, law enforcement agencies have recovered around 850 weapons across the country. “The prima facie of bringing these arms, we believe, to be misused during the elections, he said, even weapons were recovered from a place in Cumilla on Tuesday.
Citing that the arms were recovered from Dhaka, Jashore and Faridpur earlier, he said, vested quarters want to carry out violence and they have not stopped their activities. But we’re aware of it.... here we can appreciate our law enforcement agencies for what they have done till now.”
He hoped that the law enforcers will make their best efforts to maintain law and order during and after the elections.
Law and Order Satisfactory
Sanaullah said the Election Commission remains satisfied with the overall law and order situation so far, describing it as better than at any previous time, despite a few isolated incidents.
“The Election Commission is satisfied with the law and order situation we have so far. It would have been better if the isolated incidents that have occurred had not happened. We are in a better situation than at any time in the past,” he said.
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The Commissioner urged political parties, candidates, voters and supporters to maintain the prevailing festive and cordial atmosphere and ensure that the election is held peacefully removing existing tensions in some areas.
Election at a Glance
Sanaullah said a total of 2,028 candidates, including nominees of 50 political parties and independent contenders, are contesting in 299 parliamentary constituencies. Among them are 81 women candidates.
The in-person voting will be conducted in 42,659 polling stations, while counting of postal ballots will take place at 299 other stations. Altogether, there are a total of 42,958 polling stations in 299 constituencies.
Of the in-person polling stations, around 50 percent have been marked as general centres, while the remaining 50 percent have been categorised as important or vulnerable centres.
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The country’s total number of voters stands at more than 127.7 million, with male voters numbering around 64.8 million and female voters about 62.8 million.
A total of 127,298,522 voters (in 299 constituencies) are eligible to cast their ballots in this election. Of them, 64,620,077 are male voters, 62,677,232 are female voters and 1,213 are third-gender voters.
The country has a total of 127,711,899 voters (in 300 constituencies) –64,825,154 males, 62,885,525 females and 1,220 third-gender.
Postal Voting, Observers, Journalists
More than one million people have already cast their votes through postal ballots.
Regarding postal voting, the Election Commissioner said that as of Tuesday morning, around 703,000 postal ballots have already reached the returning officers. The remaining ballots, currently in transit, are expected to arrive within the next couple of days.
So far, 45,330 domestic observers have been registered, while around 350 foreign observers have also been accredited, a number that may increase slightly by Wednesday.
About 9,700 journalists have registered to cover the election, including 156 foreign journalists.
Massive Security Deployment
Sanaullah said nearly 958,000 members of law enforcement agencies have been deployed across all 299 constituencies and beyond. In addition, around 2,100 executive magistrates and 657 judicial magistrates are engaged on election duties to ensure the electoral code is maintained.
“For the first time, we are using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drones and body-worn cameras. These will be deployed across the country, with some overlap in certain areas,” he said, adding that more than 90 percent of polling stations have been equipped with CCTV cameras.
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A total of 69 returning officers, 958 assistant returning officers, 43,078 presiding officers, 247,862 assistant presiding officers and more than half a million polling officers will be engaged in election duties.
Logistics, Briefing, Result reporting
Distribution of ballot papers and election materials from assistant returning officers’ offices will begin on Wednesday morning and is expected to reach the polling stations by evening.
The Election Commission will hold a briefing for international observers and journalists on Wednesday at 11:00am at Hotel InterContinental in Dhaka.
Sanaullah also said the rule regarding voter slips has been amended, allowing candidate names or symbols to be printed on the slips while maintaining the prescribed size.
Progress reports on polling will be shared at regular intervals, with results expected to be announced in phases. Counting of votes for both the parliamentary election and the referendum will begin simultaneously at the polling stations to avoid confusion or unrest.
Result Announcement
“Based on our experience, most results are likely to be available by midnight, except for a few distant polling stations,” he said.
EC Action, Voter Turnout
The Election Commissioner said around 300 cases were so far filed over the violation of electoral code of conduct, and more than 500 investigations have been conducted. In many cases, candidates or agents corrected their actions after seeking apologies, and no further action was taken.
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Sanaullah said feedback from the field suggests there would be a strong voter turnout in the referendum and 13th parliamentary election to be held on Thursday next.
“Given the enthusiasm we are seeing among voters, we hope and expect a good turnout, Insha’Allah,” he added.