87 Upazilas go to the polls in third phase of local govt elections

Voting was halted in 22 Upazilas due to Cyclone Remal and halted in Narshingdi’s Raipura after a candidate was killed

Voters in 87 Upazilas have begun to cast their ballots for new public representatives in the sixth Upazila Parishad elections.

The voting opened at 8am on Wednesday in 7,500 polling centres and will continue until 4pm without a break.

Ballot papers were delivered to 414 centres located in remote areas on Tuesday and reached the remaining 7,036 centres early morning on Wednesday.

Although the Election Commission initially announced a schedule for votes to be cast in 112 Upazilas in the third phase, it was halted in 22 Upazilas due to Cyclone Remal. Voting was also postponed in Narshingdi’s Raipura as a candidate was killed.

In addition, votes in Jashore’s Sadar Upazila were halted due to legal complications while in Pirojpur’s Bhandaria the posts were filled unopposed.

The first two phases of the Upazila Parishad election were peaceful despite low voter turnout but there have been more reported incidents of violence and breaches of the election code of conduct in the third phase.

Voter enthusiasm seems to be low in 78 percent of Upazilas. Election analysts and observers fear that voter turnout will drop further following the outcomes of the last two phases of voting.

However, the Election Commission said it was not worried about the low turnout of voters and was instead focused on peaceful voting.

”We don’t expect violence in any phase of the election. The law enforcement agencies have taken a strong stance. Everyone involved in running the election, including the commission, has a strong stance [to hold a peaceful election],” said Election Commissioner Md Alamgir.

“I don’t think anyone will be spared if they cause any violence. For your own good, don’t opt for violence,” he said.

The commissioner warned offenders about the legal ramifications of irregularities that casting false votes.

“Whatever the voter turnout, it will be reflected in the results. Any false vote or forgery will face strict measures.”

To allow for a ‘competitive’ election, the ruling party Awami League did not nominate any candidate or allow their party symbol to be used by any of those running. Hence, Awami League leaders vying for the Upazila posts are running as independent candidates.

The BNP has been adamant about boycotting the Upazila polls, as it did the national election. However, their members are contesting the election as independent candidates in more than 50 Upazilas. At least 216 of them have since been expelled for going against the party’s decision.

# A total of 1,152 candidates are contesting the third phase of the Upazila polls

# 397 of them vying for the chairman posts, 456 for vice chairman and 299 for women vice chairman posts

# Local Awami League leaders came out on top in the first few phases. 10 others, including expelled BNP leaders, won their races.

INTEREST IN ELECTION CONTINUES TO EBB

On May 8, at least 36 percent of votes were cast in the first phase of the sixth Upazila election. The turnout was 38 percent in the second phase on May 21.

In 2019, the average turnout was 39.71 percent in the fifth Upazila Parishad election. It was 60.93 percent in 2014 in the fourth Upazila election and 67.69 percent in the third Upazila election in 2009.

Accordingly, the latest election shows the lowest voter turnout in local elections in the past one and a half decades.

Former election commissioner Kabita Khanam acknowledged that voter turnout was gradually dropping in local elections.

“It rained a lot in the coastal areas, Dhaka and other places due to the effect of Cyclone Remal. But I don’t think it will impact the voter turnout. The disaster has already subsided,” she said.

“We should think about why the voter turnout is dropping. Maybe the voters have lost faith.”

The voter turnout will increase if the authorities could win back the trust of voters, the former commissioner said.

“I don’t think the upcoming elections will see more voters. A big party and its alliance boycotted the election. They are even expelling those who defied the party’s order and took part in the election. Also, some negative propaganda has been spread against the election. This is a reason for low voter turnout. The EC can’t push up the voter turnout alone. Everyone must step forward,” said Kabita.

Election analyst Abdul Alim believed the voter turnout in the third phase would remain the same as in the last two phases or may differ very little.

“Remal could be one issue. Another issue is that voters lose interest if the election isn’t competitive. As they know the contest between leaders of a single party, they feel they don’t need to vote,” he said.

ELECTION INFO

• No. of constituencies: 87 Upazilas

• Polling centres: 7,450

• Voting booths: 54,089

• Voters: More than 20.8 million

• Male voters: 10.6 million

• Female voters: 10.2 million

• Third gender voters: 114

• EVMs in use in 16 Upazilas

• Ballot papers will be used in the remaining 71 Upazilas