Muted end to first phase of Upazila elections

Thirty-seven people were detained, polls were suspended at one centre. The turnout is unlikely to rise above 40 per cent, the lowest among the last four elections. But, barring some isolated incidents, the first phase of the sixth Upazila Parishad elections ended on Wednesday with no major irregularities or incidents of violence.

Polls opened at 8am and closed at 4pm. Those waiting in line at polling centres were still allowed to cast their ballots.

Electronic voting machines or EVMs were used for voting in 22 Upazilas, while others used traditional paper ballots.

Ashok Kumar Debnath, additional secretary to the Election Commission, said voting had ended peacefully without any major incidents.

Polls were suspended at one centre, while law enforcers detained 37 people in 19 scattered incidents for irregularities, he said.

Action was taken swiftly wherever unrest occurred, he said.

The turnout for the polls is unlikely to cross 40 per cent, he said.

Vote counting will begin once polls are closed. Once the count is finished, returning officers will announce the consolidated results for the races for chairman, vice chairman and women’s vice chairman seats.

Incidents of threats, irregularities, and unrest were reported by the media in Khagrachhari’s Lakshmichhari, Bogura, Chapainawabganj’s Bhola Haat, Gaibandha’s Fulchhari, Madaripur, Sirajganj, Narayanganj, and some other areas.

Voter turnout was low in the morning, but more voters came to the polls as the day rolled on.

EC Secretary Md Jahangir Alam had previously said that the turnout was averaging around 15-20 per cent four hours into the polls. Voters had likely been discouraged by the rain and adverse weather in some areas, he said.

Accordingly, the turnout for the eight hours the polls were open is likely to be between 30-40 per cent.

A total of 1,619 candidates are contesting the first phase of the Upazila Parishad election with 565 of them vying for the chairman posts, 619 for vice chairman and 435 for women vice chairman posts

• At least 28 of them, including 8 chairmen, 10 vice chairmen and 10 women vice chairmen were elected uncontested
• More than 31.4 million voters can cast their ballots at 81,804 polling booths in 11,556 voting centres in 139 Upazilas
• Among them, more than 16 million are male voters and 15.4 million are female voters, while 188 are third-gender voters.

The sixth Upazila Parishad election will be held in four phases.

The 12th national election on Jan 7, saw a 42 per cent voter turnout.

In 2009, the third Upazila Parishad election saw a 67.69 per cent turnout while the figure dropped to 61 per cent in the fourth Upazila election in 2014. In 2019, the rate was around 41 per cent in the fifth Upazila election.

Since the Upazila Parishad council was introduced in 1985, there were one-day votes in 1990 and 2009. But in 2014, the local government elections were held in six phases and the 2019 election in five phases.

The Upazila election is typically held within four months of the 12th parliamentary election. The Election Commission took ‘all necessary preparations’ to have a free and fair election this time, said Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal. They were trying their best to ‘prevent any influence on the voting,’ he said.

To allow for a ‘competitive’ election, the ruling party Awami League did not nominate any candidate or allow their party symbol to be used by any of those running. Hence, Awami League leaders vying for the Upazila posts are running as independent candidates.

After the last general election, the Election Commission’s biggest challenges for the polls are to ensure good voter turnout while keeping the election free of any influence, believe election observers.