Bangladesh is going to polls on Dec 30, 2018 to elect the members of parliament.
Live: Election violence hits parts of Bangladesh
bdnews24.com's live coverage of voting in the 2018 Bangladesh general election has closed. Thanks for following along. Please check the homepage for updates as the news unfolds. KEY POINTS # Bangladesh voted for 299 seats in the 11th national parliamentary election # Voting began at 8am and ended at 4pm # 15 people have been killed in 11 districts in violence tied to the election # The BNP has alleged violence, the occupation of voting centres and agents being forced out # CEC KM Nurul Huda says polls are largely ‘peaceful’ aside from ‘one or two isolated incidents’ # Mobile internet service was shut down for the polls
Published : 30 Dec 2018, 01:44 AM
Updated : 30 Dec 2018, 05:55 PM
0900h: The Awami League takes early lead as its candidates win 15 constituencies. They include party chief Sheikh Hasina and cricketer Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. The Jatiya Party secures one seat as no other party has managed any win so far.
0813pm: Jatiya Oikya Front chief calls election a farce, calls on Election Commission to scrap results and hold fresh elections under impartial government.
08:00pm: The Awami League candidates for the Magura-1 and Magura-2 seats, Saifuzzaman Shikhor and Biren Sikder, have won their respective races.
06:38pm: Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed announces that voting has been suspended at 22 of the 40,051 polling centres in the country, or 0.05 percent of the total, due to violence and clashes.
06:30pm: Indian election observers say that election was conducted in a 'calm and serene manner' in the capital.
06:12pm: Awami League says election has largely ended without conflict.
04:10pm: The BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami have adopted lies and violence as voters have rejected them in the election, says the Awami League.
04:04pm: Voting in the 11th national parliamentary election has come to a close. Those who are standing in line at polling stations can still vote.
01:52pm: Police rush in to tighten security at a centre in Mirpur-10 after a ‘crude bomb’ blast.
01:47pm: A young man, identified as Israil, dies in election-related violence at the Rajghar centre in Brahmanbaria Sadar Upazila, says Superintendent of Police Anwar Hossain Khan. Israil’s father says his son was an Awami League activist.
01:18pm: Dhaka-1 candidate Salma Islam, who is battling her Awami League counterpart Salman F Rahman, has announced that she is boycotting the polls. She has called for a fresh election.
12:48pm: BNP’s polling agents are absent at many voting stations in the capital, report our correspondents after visiting centres in Dhaka 10, Dhaka-7, Dhaka-13, Dhaka-5, Dhaka-14, Dhaka-2 and Dhaka-12.
12:30pm: Two political activists have been killed in separate incidents of election violence. A BNP supporter dies in Chattogram and an Awami League activist dies in Rajshahi.
12.24pm: BNP’s Ruhul Kabir Rizvi alleges that polling centres are being occupied across the country, the party’s agents are being driven out and that its supporters and activists are facing violence.
12.17pm: BNP leader Mirza Abbas and his wife Afroza Abbas leave a polling station in Dhaka without casting their votes. They dismiss the election as a farce.
12:02pm: Voters at a centre of the Dhaka-1 constituency being contested by Awami League’s Salman F Rahman allege that election officials are not marking the fingers of those who cast their ballots with permanent ink under “instructions from the ruling party activists”.
11.49am: Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader says he will accept any outcome of the election as he casts his vote in Noakhali’s Companyganj.
11:36am: CEC Nurul Huda says the election is continuing peacefully, except for one or two isolated incidents. Huda and his wife cast their votes in Uttara’s Sector 5.
11:29am: Police drive away polling agents for the BNP from the voting station at Mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon Centre in Dhaka, reports bdnews24. com’s Abdullah Al Momin from the scene.
11.17am: BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir says he is hopeful of a Jatiya Oikya Front victory if people are free to cast their votes.
10:57am: Bangladesh police chief Mohammad Javed Patwary says the nationwide polls are progressing peacefully and vows to investigate the “isolated” incidents of violence.
10:50am: Arsonists attack parked bus in Dhaka’s Mugda as the election continues; nobody was injured, says local police officer Proloy Kumar Saha.
10:42am: Jatiya Oikya Front leader Kamal Hossain expresses concern over the nationwide election and says: “It’s sad and shameful.”
10:27am: A man dies in election-related clashes among police, Jatiya Party and Jamaat in Banshkhali.
10:00am: A Jubo League leader is killed and ten others are injured in a clash between Awami League and BNP supporters in Rangamati’s Kawkhali.
09:42am: Live from our newsroom with Toufique Imrose Khalidi. The editor-in-chief of bdnews24.com will present the developments, results and analysis of the election, starting at 2pm.
09:13am: BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir votes at the Government Girls’ School centre in Thakurgaon-1.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina flashes a victory sign after casting her ballot in the 11th national parliamentary election. Photo: Saiful Islam Kallol
09:03am: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says she will accept any outcome of the election.
08:46am: Election authorities suspend voting at a centre in Noakhali-3 after the looting of polling materials. In another centre, at least six people have been injured in election violence in Noakhali.
08:24am: bdnews24.com’s Senior Correspondent Kamal Talukdar says the morning voter turnout at the Dhaka Mahanagar Shishu Hospital in the old part of the city is relatively thin.
08.21am: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says she is confident that her party will win the election. The pro-liberation forces will surely clinch the victory, she says.
8:04am: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina casts her ballot at 8am as the first voter at the Dhaka City College centre in the capital.
8:01am: Polling opens at 8am. Bangladesh goes to the polls with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seeking an unprecedented third straight term.
7:45am: More than 100 million voters are expected to head to polling stations in the 11th parliamentary election on Sunday. Voting will start at 8am and end at 4pm.
KEY FACTS
Over 40,000 polling centres are in place across the country. Voters will have to turn off their mobile phones before entering the centres.
At least 21.5 million young voters between 18 and 28 years have entered the electoral roll since 2008, making them a substantial demographic that could sway the outcome.
Electronic voting machines (EVMs) are being used at the national election for the first time in six constituencies.
Results for the constituencies where EVMs will be put to use are likely to be released a few hours after the polls close. Results for the other constituencies are likely to trickle in over the course of Sunday night and Monday morning.
Thirty-nine political parties registered with the Election Commission are contesting in the ballot.
The Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina is seeking an unprecedented third straight term in power.
The 10th parliamentary election in 2014 was boycotted by the BNP, the largest opposition party, and several others.
The BNP has joined in the race this time in a bid to snap Hasina’s run, but is without party chief and three-time former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who has been in prison since February on corruption charges.
RELATED STORIES
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged voters to elect Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the illustrious ODI cricket captain and Awami League candidate for Narail-2, in the Dec 30 polls.
The Awami League has received a record percentage of votes in the recent general election that also served BNP its biggest ever defeat.
The ruling Awami League has given its initial approval to the candidates who will compete for the party in the coming 11th parliamentary election.
