‘It took one second’: Voters rush through referendum ballot

Many voters said they stamped ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ on the referendum ballot “within a second” without reading the questions printed on it.

Asked how long it took to cast their referendum vote and whether they had done so knowingly and reading it, Shova Siddiqui, a voter from Shahjahanpur in Dhaka, said: “It took one second to vote in the referendum. Why read so much? I voted where my mother told me to.”

The 22-year-old student cast her vote at the Mirza Abbas Mohila College centre.

Another university student, Happy Akter, who voted at the same centre, said: “I voted in the referendum, that’s it. It did not even take a second. Why would I need to read it? I voted with full understanding."

Sixty-year-old Samsul Alam cast his vote at Shahjahanpur High School centre. After voting he told bdnews24.com: “If only I were educated! I voted where my son told me to. I don’t understand ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. I stamped in one place. It did not take even a minute to cast the two votes.” Another voter, Md Kabir Hossain, said: “It did not take even a minute, I think you understand!”

Khalil Mia, 55, who came to vote at Railway School, said: “I cast the referendum vote in one minute.” Forty-four-year-old cook Md Babul Mia said, “I cast both votes in a minute. I had already decided where I would vote.”