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Published : 15 Sep 2025, 09:03 PM
Multiple allegations of “inconsistencies” in the vote count of the Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU) election have raised new questions about the overall management of the polls.
The university administration has acknowledged a "discrepancy" in the vote count for one hall, which resulted in a different candidate being declared the winner for a specific position.
While not immediately commenting on the other allegations, the chief election commissioner has advised those with objections to submit a written complaint to the JUCSU president, who is also the vice-chancellor.
The excitement surrounding the JUCSU election, held after a 33-year hiatus, was quickly overshadowed by delays in announcing the results.
The 48-hour-long manual vote-counting, which officials claimed was a painstaking effort “to be precise”, ultimately resulted in a flawed outcome.
Many students and candidates are not willing to accept this as an “unintentional mistake” and call it a clear case of “vote-rigging and mismanagement”.
According to the Election Commission, around 68 percent of the university's nearly 12,000 students cast their ballots on Thursday. Vote counting began that night at 10pm and the results were finally announced on Saturday evening.
The election's record will forever be marked by numerous complaints of irregularities, including chaos during voting, the boycott by most student panels, and the death of an election-duty teacher during the lengthy vote count.
The main problem, however, began when the Election Commission opted to count the ballots by hand instead of using optical mark recognition (OMR) machines to avoid controversy.
The decision was made after allegations surfaced that the ballot papers and OMR machines were purchased from a company affiliated with Jamaat.
A review of the results shows that candidates from Islami Chhatra Shibir’s Sammilito Shikkharthi Jote panel won 15 of the 19 secretarial positions.
Independent candidate Abdur Rasid Zitu was elected vice-president (VP), alongside Shibir’s Mazharul Islam elected as general secretary (GS).
Even three days after the results were announced, the election continues to face criticism for the boycott and allegations of irregularities that began on election day itself.
Initial reports indicate vote-counting discrepancies in the elections for Shaheed Rafiq-Jabbar Hall, Jahanara Imam Hall, and Maulana Bhashani Hall.
The university authorities admitted to a counting error in Rafiq-Jabbar Hall, where the Bangla numeral for “four” was mistaken for the English “eight”.
This inconsistency altered the vote total and changed the name of the winning candidate.
When asked about similar mismatches in Jahanara Imam Hall, the hall's election official declined to comment.
A voter from Maulana Bhashani Hall demanded an explanation after their candidate's vote count was listed as “zero”, even though they had voted for them.
The hall's election official denied the possibility of this happening, suggesting it was an “attempt to divert the issue”.
