JUCSU votes to be counted by hand after Chhatra Dal complaint

The Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU) Election Commission has decided to count votes by hand following a complaint by the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD).

Commission member and Pharmacy teacher Prof Mafruhi Sattar confirmed the decision to bdnews24.com on Thursday afternoon.

He said, "Initially, we decided to count the ballot papers using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) machines. However, a student organisation (JCD) made an allegation against machine counting.

“In response, we, as a commission, decided to count the votes manually."

Earlier, JCD's vice president candidate Sheikh Sadi Hasan alleged at an urgent briefing that the ballot papers and OMR machines for the election were supplied by a company owned by a Jamaat-e-Islami leader.

“After the matter became known, we informed the administration. Under pressure, the administration immediately decided to count votes by hand instead of using OMR machines," he said.