Voting underway for Dhaka-18, Sirajganj-1 seats

Voters are casting their ballots for the by-elections to the Dhaka-18 and Sirajganj-1 constituencies which fell vacant following the deaths of its previous incumbents, Awami League stalwarts Sahara Khatun and Mohammed Nasim.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 12 Nov 2020, 06:48 AM
Updated : 12 Nov 2020, 06:48 AM

Habib Hasan is contesting the Dhaka-18 election with the 'boat' symbol, while Nasim's son Tanvir Shakil Joy is running on the ruling party's ticket in Sirajganj.

BNP candidate SM Jahangir Hossain is contesting the Dhaka by-poll, while Selim Reza is contesting the Sirajganj seat on the BNP slate.

Voting will continue until 4 pm without a break, said Dhaka Returning Officer Md Nazrul Islam and Sirajganj Assistant Returning Officer Abul Hossain. They have not received any “complaint” as yet, they said. Electronic voting machines or EVMs have been used in the polls.

Though the BNP candidate raised some minor complaints over the code of conduct during the election which is being held without much fanfare, no unwanted incidents have been reported as of now.

The authorities have organised the poll following the health protocols amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, they said. Social distancing has been enforced for the voters.

Earlier, EVMs were used in by-polls to Dhaka-10, Dhaka-5 and Naogaon-6 seats before the coronavirus pandemic broke out. It was used in two by-elections on Oct 17.

Only 5.28 percent of votes were cast in the Dhaka-10 by-polls which used EVM machines. The figure was 10.43 percent in Dhaka-5 and 36.49 percent in Naogaon-6. Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda blamed the political parties for the low turnout of voters.

The Dhaka-18 was vacated after the death of Sahara Khatun on Jul 9, while the passing of Nasim on Jun 13 left the Sirajganj-1 seat empty.

The Dhaka-18 constituency is home to 577,188 voters, while Sirajganj-1 has 345,603 voters.