CEC says he hasn't heard anyone say they were unable to vote

Voters were able to exercise their right to vote “beautifully” in the 13th parliamentary elections, says Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin.

Speaking as the chief guest at a discussion organised at the Election Commission headquarters in Dhaka’s Agargaon on Monday to mark International Women's Day, he said: "With your cooperation, we have been able to give the gift of a beautiful election. I have not yet heard from a single person who said, 'I could not vote in the election'. I have asked many people, but no one has said this."

The CEC also mentioned that while visiting various centres on polling day, he did not hear any complaints from regular voters, women voters, or voters from minority communities.

Nasir also joked about the indelible ink used in the election remaining visible on voters' fingers more than a month after the election.

Noting that there have been many jokes on social media about the persistent ink stains, the CEC said that some voters are even making humorous comments about the stains barring them from voting in local government elections.

Highlighting a Facebook post by a former colleague of his after the election, he said: "He posted, 'Honourable chief election commissioner, did you put on this ink yourself? This ink is not coming off. Now I am afraid ahead of the upcoming local government elections. If I go to vote with this ink, I will be caught. Will I be able to vote in the local elections like this?'"

Nasir also commented that the household work done by women is not valued as part of Bangladesh’s economy and is not accounted for in its GDP calculations.

"If the contribution of women's household work was monetised, Bangladesh's GDP would have been three times higher than it is now," he said.

The CEC also praised the performance of the women officers who were on duty during the election. He also said that no allegations of bias or irregularities have been made against female presiding officers so far.

Highlighting “great success” in registering women as voters, the CEC said: "Previously, there was a gap of about 3 million between women and men voters. As a result of updating the voter list by going door to door, that gap has now come down to 1 million. I myself have seen women standing in lines till 10-11 pm to register as voters. Such scenes were unimaginable."

He also commented that even if an election is good, usually some political objections arise after voting ends.