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Published : 11 Apr 2025, 02:07 AM
The Election Commission has already shared its decision that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will not be used for voting in future.
The decision, however, leaves a pressing question - what will become of the 150,000 machines that had once been pushed as being instrumental to the voting process?
Nine months have passed since the EVM project officially concluded, yet the commission has not reached a resolution on the fate of the equipment.
The absence of a plan has prompted logistical concerns over the storage and potential disposal of such a large consignment of machines.
The commission decided to receive the EVMs from the project authorities and would store them for the time being. No one was aware of what would be the next action.
In the interim, the Election Commission has opted to take possession of the EVMs from the now-disbanded project office and place them in storage. But as of now, there is no clear roadmap for what comes next as the EVMs gather dust.
When asked, Election Commissioner Anwarul Islam Sarkar said: "The project has already ended and everything (equipment) has a lifetime. Only time will tell about the future of the EVMs worth billions of taka."
Following the EC's decision, the project authorities have prepared to hand over the machines. A total of four committees are working on the issue. However, the handover got delayed due to the slow progress of the committees’ work.
Under the circumstances, the EVM project authorities requested a commission meeting or coordination meeting to review the handover process.
NEXT ELECTION TO BE HELD USING PAPER BALLOTS
The AMM Nasir Uddin-led EC is only four months into its tenure and already started preparing for the next general election in full swing.
The commission says the next election will be held using paper ballots folded into transparent boxes. The Electoral Reform Commission has also recommended ceasing the use of EVMs.
On Jan 12, the second commission meeting of the new EC decided to receive the EVMs from the project for better management and maintenance of the 150,000 machines, although they would not be used for voting.
“We’ll receive the machines immediately and maintain them. We’ll decide on whether the EVMs will ever be used in future,” said Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah.
REFORM COMMITTEE ALSO AGAINST EVM
The electoral reform committee has recommended scrapping the policy of using EVMs in elections.
In its report, the Badiul Alam Mazumdar-led reform commission said there was a significant difference between the voter turnout numbers in six constituencies where poll centres used EVM for voting and the others that used paper ballots in the 2018 election. This difference creates suspicion and debate on the transparency of the election debate, the report said.
Political parties and civil society have raised objections and complained about the efficiency of EVMs at different times. Complaints of financial irregularities involving the purchase of EVM were also reported.
The reform commission says, “Based on the limitations of EVMs and stakeholders’ opinions, it can be said that EVM is unsafe and not a transparent voting system. It makes the management of the electoral system complicated and expensive. Under the circumstances, we recommend cessation of EVM use.”
Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin clearly said on Jan 11 in Sylhet that EVMs would not be used in the next election. “We have no plan to use EVMs in the next general election.”
CURRENT STATE OF EVM
The duration of the EVM project under the EC Secretariat was from 2018 to 2023. Later, the government extended it to June 2024 without increasing the budget.
Four committees were formed to manage and maintain the machines as the project was not extended further and the EVMs were to be handed over.
One committee has been formed to identify broken EVMs and destroy them, one to do scrutiny, and one convenor committee has been formed to fix the warehouse rent.
Another committee has been formed to receive the documents and materials and one for receiving EVM source code, credentials, and card customisation.
• Currently, 86,000 of 150,000 EVMs are stored in the manufacturing company Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory (BMTF).
• Around 62,000 machines are left at the field level
• Around 1,200 EVMs are kept at the Election Commission office
• A large number of EVMs are out of order due to lack of maintenance
Project Director Col Syed Rakibul Hasan said 45,000 to 50,000 EVMs were in usable condition until June 2024. Around 60,000 to 70,000 EVMs went out of order but could be mended. The rest were beyond repairs.
WHY DELAY IN HANDOVER
The technical committee on the conservation of running EVMs and those worth repairing had one meeting but there was no progress in work.
The convenor committee formed to fix the warehouse rent submitted a report to the EC secretariat but no decision was made.
Materials, computer accessories, vehicles, software copyright, technology handover, receiving and conserving committee provided their recommendation but the handover process made no headway.
The committee on receiving EVM source code, credentials, and card customisation progressed in their work but no handover occurred.
Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarkar said, “The receiver and giver should work together to handover the equipment. They have to make a list of things. If there’s a need for valuation, they have to look after it.”
“The competent authority will assess it. A list will be made after the assessment. The receiver will follow the list.”
WHAT PROJECT DIRECTOR SAYS
EVM Project Director Col Syed Rakibul Hasan said they completed the preparatory work to hand over the machines.
“We got everything ready as the commission wanted. Some of the committees worked accordingly while some could not finish their work.”
He said, “The commission got the report from the field level, and visited BMTF. Source code was already handed over and so was the server credentials which the commission changed to their own. All printing machines were handed over.”
“Now the project is over. They should receive everything properly.”
ONE AND A HALF DECADES OF EVM
After EVM was introduced in 2010, it was used only in the local polls. ATM Shamsul Huda-led commission used it in the city corporation polls, in a broader field, but never used it for the general elections.
Kazi Rakibuddin-led EC left the old EVMs in an unusable condition in 2012. They caused several glitches in the city corporation elections.
Later, the KM Nurul Huda-les EC worked on EVMs again. They received the approval for the project to purchase 150,000 EVMs for Tk 38.25 billion. After amending the law, EVMs were used in six constituencies in the 11th general election in 2018.
The Kazi Habibul Awal-led commission, however, organised most of the local elections using EVMs. The EC had a plan to use EVMs in at least 150 constituencies in the 12th parliamentary polls.
The government did not agree to the proposal to purchase 200,000 new EVMs after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, the commission deviated from its plan to use EVMs in the 12th national election.
[Writing in English by Sabrina Karim Murshed]
