7% turnout in first two hours of Upazila polls: EC

35,204,748 voters can cast their ballots in this phase of the elections

Security personnel sit idly by at the Government Aditmari Girija Shankar Model School and College polling centre at 9:45am on Tuesday, May 21, 2024.

Few voters are trickling into polling centres in the early hours of voting at 156 Upazilas in the second phase of the sixth Upazila Parishad elections.

In the first two hours of the polls – from 8am to 10am on Tuesday – the average voter turnout was approximately 7 percent, according to Ashok Kumar Debnath, additional secretary at the Election Commission.

Voting started at 8am and has proceeded ‘fairly’, he said. No ‘unpleasant’ incidents had been reported as of 11am.

However, an Ansar personnel on duty in Sirajganj’s Sadar Upazila had died of a ‘heart attack’ the night before the poll, he said.

“According to the information received from the different districts, the turnout is different in different areas. In some places it is more and in others less. We expect the turnout to pick up as the day progresses.”

A total of 35,204,748 registered voters can cast their ballots at 13,016 centres in this phase of the polls. Electronic voting machines are being used in 24 Upazilas while the remaining 132 use paper ballots.

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 the 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.