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Published : 15 May 2026, 12:09 AM
The two-day voting for the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections for the 2026-2027 term has ended, with 36.487 percent of voters casting ballot.
Voting began on Thursday morning at the association's auditorium and ended at 5pm on the second day, just as it did on the opening day.
The election sub-committee, headed by retired justice Miftah Uddin Chowdhury, conducted the election.
According to the Election Commission, lawyer turnout in this election was much lower than in previous years.
Out of 11,097 voters, 4,048 cast their ballots.
Since 2019, the total number of voters has fluctuated between 7,700 and 8,600 for four straight years. An average of around 5,500 to 6,000 votes were cast in these elections.
The highest number of votes was 5,940 out of 7,781 voters in the 2020-2021 term.
The voter turnout rate dropped in the 2023-2024 term when 4,137 votes were cast against 8,602 voters.
However, it increased slightly in the 2024-2025 term. Out of 7,883 voters, 5,319 cast their ballots at that time.
In the latest election, a total of 11,097 voters cast their ballots on Wednesday.
On the second and last day, 2,277 lawyers voted.
Former justice Miftah, the chief election commissioner, compared the last few elections with the latest one after a panel boycotted the vote due to low voter turnout.
He said, “Earlier this system did not exist, now it is different. Earlier, there was light noise; there was joy and fun. We used to have fun all night, but there was no fighting or shouting.”
Criticising the past few elections, the CEC said the last one was significantly chaotic as seen in videos.
“There was fighting inside, and two candidates were declared secretaries. The person in charge of the election was forced to do this,” he said.
According to him, the situation no longer prevails.
“I hope it will not happen in the future either.”
Regarding a panel's boycott, he said: "We don't have a party; everyone is a colleague. Many of those who are known as the ‘boycott party’ have come to vote.
“So, they don't like that nonsense either,” the former justice said.
Assistant secretary candidate Mustafa Asghar Sharifi alleged that the election sub-committee dismissed the complaints raised by voters.
The Election Commission did respond officially to the allegations, he said, adding that it was important for the voters to know the decision.
He, however, thinks the voter turnout was not as low as feared.
“More than 4,000 votes were cast, which is quite satisfactory.”
Green Panel vice-president candidate Mohiuddin Farooque said he heard of vote rigging, but expressed his satisfaction with the overall voting atmosphere.
“The attendance is not very low. It was the same last time, too.”
Farooque admitted that many well-known pro-Awami League lawyers did not cast votes.
“Silent” Awami Leaguers or those who are not very active for the party came to vote, he said.
The election for the 2025-26 term was not held after the fall of the Awami League government.
After a gap of nearly two years, the elections were held with 40 candidates in the race for the 14 posts of the association's executive committee.
The panels are the BNP-backed nationalist lawyer Blue Panel, the Jamaat-backed Green Panel, and the NCP-backed Red-Green Panel.
