Live: Frustration runs deep as thin presence of voters marks Dhaka city polls

# Polling will continue from 8am to 4pm. # Electronic voting machines or EVMs will be used in all 2,468 polling stations. # A total of 5,463,467 voters are registered in the two city corporations. # More than 750 candidates are running for the two mayors’ offices and 172 councillors’ posts.

>>bdnews24.com
Published : 1 Feb 2020, 01:01 AM
Updated : 1 Feb 2020, 11:37 AM

bdnews24.com has closed the live blog on the city polls.

#04:02pm: The election to the bifurcated Dhaka City Corporation comes to an end at 4pm amid a low turnout of voters and complaints of fingerprints mismatches. The polls went largely peaceful though.

#03:47pm: Many voters, including CEC KM Nurul Huda and Dr Kamal Hossain, faced hassles over fingerprint mismatches during e-voting.

#03:22pm: The Election Monitoring Forum, a network of local observers, says the overall voting atmosphere is peaceful. Voters celebrated e-voting.

#03:20pm: Tabith Awal complains that polling agents have been expelled or barred from 43 voting centres out of 54 in Dhaka North. The BNP-backed mayoral candidate relays the complaints to the Election Commission.

#02:17h: A reporter is injured in an attack allegedly by the supporters of a ruling party-backed councillor candidate in Mohammadpur. Mustafizur Rahman Sumon, an employee of internet-based news outlet Agami, has been hospitalised with head injuries.

 

#02:02pm: A nervy situation prevails in front of the Khilgaon Model College centre amid a conflict among political rivals.

#01:55pm: Police step in to calm tensions in a neighbourhood in Dhaka’s Azimpur after election rivals chase each other.

#12:54pm: Reporters deployed by bdnews24.com across the city say the turnout of voters in the early election is far less than expected.  

#12:33pm: Dr Kamal Hossain says he is frustrated over the thin presence of voters and has blamed it on the use of electronic voting machines. “People have lost faith in e-voting.”

#11:57am: Chief Election Commissioner Nurul Huda casts his vote at the IES School and College centre in Uttara.

#11:55am: Assistant Returning Officer Tarequzzaman says the fingerprint mismatch in different centres exceeded the approved limit which is 1% of voters. Efforts are underway to raise the limit.

#11:30am: Jatiya Oikya Front leader and Gono Forum President Kamal Hossain faces hassles over his fingerprint mismatch at the Viqarunnisa Noon School & College centre. An election official later assisted Dr Kamal in casting his vote.

 

#11:23am: CEC KM Nurul Huda calls for law-enforcement agencies and election officials to tackle any untoward incident. He insists there were no reports of indiscipline or intimidation from any polling centre, responding to reporters’ questions on the “expulsion” of polling agents.  

#11:16am: Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan says the presence of voters seems to be a bit low, but it may increase later in the day. “No untoward incident has been reported in the city polls,” he says after casting his vote.

 

COMMENTS ON E-VOTING: Dhaka North mayoral candidate Atiqul Islam says electronic voting is interesting. “I’m very happy to cast my vote via EVM,” he says. His rival Tabith Awal says the machine used by his mother to cast her vote broke down for some reason. In the south, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh says e-voting was successful, adding: “I think Dhaka residents accepted the EVMs happily.” Taposh’s rival candidate Ishraque Hossain says he cast his vote successfully but it doesn’t mean e-voting is free from errors.

#10:32am: PM Sheikh Hasina says the appointment of Bangladeshi staff by diplomatic missions as foreign observers for the Dhaka city polls goes against the electoral code of conduct. She was also critical of the Election Commission for registering Bangladeshi nationals as international observers.

#10:03am: Four mayoral candidates for Dhaka North and South cast their votes in the city polls; voting continues peacefully so far.

#09:13am: BNP-endorsed mayoral candidate for Dhaka South Ishraque Hossain says: “Nothing can stop me. I’m always ready to deal with any circumstances. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure voters go to the polling centres.” Ishraque casts doubt over the use of electronic voting machines and alleges that polling agents have been barred from entering the centres.

 

#08:53am: Dhaka South mayoral candidate Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh casts his vote at Dhanmondi Girls High School in Dhaka and praises the easy process of electronic voting.

#08:49am: Tabith Awal, the BNP-endorsed mayoral candidate for Dhaka North, says, “It appears we’re not heading into a free and fair election.” He casts his vote at Manarat Dhaka International School & College in Gulshan.

Live from polling centre:

bdnews24.com’s Multimedia Correspondent Riasad Hossain Sunvi reports live from Dr Malika University College, a polling centre in Dhaka South.

#08:14am: Prime Minister Hasina criticises some diplomatic missions’ decision to appoint Bangladeshi staff members as “foreign observers” for the Dhaka city polls in an apparent breach of the election code of conduct.

#08:13am: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says she voted for mayoral candidate for Dhaka South Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh. Hasina spoke to the media, with Taposh standing next to her, after casting her vote.

#08:06am: Mayoral candidate for Dhaka North Atiqul Islam casts his vote as the first voter at the Nawab Habibullah Model School and College centre.

#08:05am: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also chief of the ruling Awami League, casts her vote as the first voter at City College in Dhaka.

 

#08:04am: Weather is clear, but the presence of voters is still thin. Election officials expect the turnout of voters will increase as the day progresses. 

# 8:01am: Voting in the Dhaka city polls starts at 8am.

7:01am: Voters are electing their representatives in the Dhaka North and South City Corporations for the next five years on Saturday.

Polling opens at 8am and runs through to 4pm without a break and exclusively through electronic voting machines.

[bdnews24.com live coverage of the elections to Dhaka North City Corporation and Dhaka South City Corporation starts at 7:01am]