Voting suspended at Ruqayyah Hall upon discovery of stashed ballot papers

Voting has resumed at the Ruqayyah Hall after a three-hour suspension due to the discovery of ballot papers stashed in a room during the DUCSU and Hall Council election.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 11 March 2019, 05:20 AM
Updated : 11 March 2019, 10:46 AM

Returning Officer Prof Farhana Ferdousi has told bdnews24.com that polls reopened at 3pm on Monday.

“The agitated students snatched away 2,607 ballot papers. That is why voting was suspended from 12:15 pm. We have made arrangements for more votes by bringing in leftover ballot papers from other halls.”

A total of 43,255 students are casting their ballots at 18 residential halls at the university. Ruqqayah Hall has 4,608 voters.

A dispute over sealing ballot boxes between students and the election officials had delayed the start of voting for the Dhaka University Central Students' Union, or DUCSU, and Hall Council election at Ruqqayah Hall by an hour.

Leftist student panel general secretary candidate Monira Dilshad said that the students demanded that empty ballot boxes be shown and sealed in front of them before the start of voting, but were ignored by the returning officer.

“He showed us the empty boxes but did not want to seal them. There was an argument. He said repeatedly that we had to submit it in writing if we wanted it to happen. We then went to him with a few reporters and he sealed the boxes in front of them.

Independent candidate Yasmin Akhtar, who is running for hall social services secretary, said:

“We have the most voters amongst the 18 halls. We were supposed to receive nine ballot boxes accordingly, but only six came. There is no sign of the three others.”

The hall authorities opened the polls at around 9pm after the voting boxes were sealed and the situation had calm somewhat.

“We set up a control room behind the polling booths. There was a trunk containing ballot papers in that room. The female students complained that the ballot papers already had marks on them. But I said that the ballot papers were not marked. We had suspended the voting because they snatched away the ballot papers,” said Returning Officer Prof Farhana Ferdousi.

“We challenged the authorities upon discovering the ballot boxes left in that room after the start of voting. But the returning officer repeatedly told us that the ballot boxes will be opened after the arrival of the proctor’s team. An hour passed in this way,” said Hall Council independent candidate Yasmin Akhtar.

Tensions rose among the students when BCL vice president candidate Rezwanul Haque Chowdhury Shobhon and general secretary candidate Golam Rabbani visited Ruqayyah Hall.

“BCL Hall Council candidate for the AGS post Falguni Das Tanbi was ready to hit me. At that time my supporters and other female students became agitated and seized the ballot papers,” said Yasmin Akhtar.

“The girls did this because of rumours. What will happen to the polls now? We demand our voting rights,” said Ruqayyah Hall BCL general secretary candidate Sayma Aktar Promi.

Students and BCL activists protested in front of Ruqayyah Hall after the voting was suspended.

Returning Officer Prof Farhana Ferdousi said that they will make up for the hours wasted due to the trouble when she announced that polls had reopened.