Turnout for 2nd phase of Upazila polls 17% after 4 hours: EC secretary

Md Jahangir Alam expects the turnout to be higher than in the first phase of the polls

The turnout for the 2nd phase of the Upazila Parishad elections has hit nearly 17 percent in the first four hours since polls opened, says Election Commission Secretary Md Jahangir Alam.

He made the statement at 1pm on Tuesday at the EC’s headquarters in Dhaka’s Agargaon.

“The average turnout in the first four hours is 16.94 percent,” he said. “There were no major incidents of unpleasantness. But there have been 18 minor, scattered incidents.”

An Ansar personnel died of a stroke before the polls began and an elderly voter died after falling ill while standing in line, he said.

“In our country, the turnout usually ticks up in the afternoon. We hope the turnout will be higher than in the first phase.”

A total of 35,204,748 registered voters can cast their ballots at 13,016 centres in this phase of the polls. Electronic voting machines are being used in 24 Upazilas while the remaining 132 use paper ballots.

Voting began at 8am and is scheduled to continue until 4pm.

As part of its strategy to make the election more participatory, the ruling party Awami League has not allowed its party symbol to be used in the Upazila election. The Awami League leaders are contesting the Upazila election as independent candidates.

On the other hand, the BNP and its like-minded parties boycotted the Upazila election. However, some of their members are also taking part in the election as independent contestants. The BNP has already expelled at least 64 members for breaching the party’s rules and contesting the election.

On May 8, the first phase of voting was held in 139 Upazilas. The turnout was 36.1 percent counting votes cast for the chairmen posts. The majority of the winners belonged to the ruling party Awami League. Experts believe the second phase will yield similar results.

The average voter turnout during the fifth Upazila Parishad elections in 2019 was approximately 41 percent. The turnout was 61 percent during the fourth Upazila Parishad polls in 2014 and 67.69 percent during the third Upazila Parishad polls in 2009.

The sixth Upazila elections will be held in four rounds in 485 Upazilas. The third and fourth rounds of the voting will be held on May 29 and Jun 5.