Upazila polls: Counting begins as voting closes in second phase

EC officials are hoping for a higher turnout from the first phase

The second phase of the sixth Upazila Parishad elections has ended in 156 Upazilas without any major reports of irregularities or unrest.

Voting began at 8am on Tuesday for the posts of chairman, vice chairman and woman vice chairman in the local government polls and drew to a close at 4pm.

Counting began after polls closed. However, polling centres will still take the votes of those who lined up within the centre’s boundaries before 4pm.

EVMs were used for voting in 24 Upazilas while the remaining 132 used traditional paper ballots.

Voter turnout was slow in the morning but seemed to pick up as the day progressed.

EC Secretary Md Jahangir Alam said that the turnout was 17 percent after the first four hours and that polls were largely peaceful despite a few isolated incidents.

He expressed his hope that the voter turnout for this phase of the polls would exceed the level in the first phase of the Upazila election.

A total of 35,204,748 registered voters were able to cast their ballots at 13,016 centres in this phase of the polls.

As part of its strategy to make the election more participatory, the ruling party Awami League has not allowed its party symbol to be used in Upazila election. The Awami League leaders are contesting the Upazila election as independent candidates.

On the other hand, the BNP and its like-minded parties boycotted the Upazila election. However, some of their members are also taking part in the election as independent contestants. The BNP has already expelled at least 64 members for breaching the party’s rules and contesting the election.

On May 8, the first phase of voting was held in 139 Upazilas. The turnout was 36.1 percent counting votes cast for the chairmen posts. The majority of the winners belonged to the ruling party Awami League. Experts believe the second phase will yield similar results.

The average voter turnout during the fifth Upazila Parishad elections in 2019 was approximately 41 percent. The turnout was 61 percent during the fourth Upazila Parishad polls in 2014 and 67.69 percent during the third Upazila Parishad polls in 2009.

The sixth Upazila elections will be held in four rounds in 485 Upazilas. The third and fourth rounds of the voting will be held on May 29 and Jun 5.