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Students are nearly ready to choose their representatives in the Chittagong University Central Students’ Union (CUCSU) and hall and hostel union elections.
Campaigning for the polls ended at midnight on Monday. The Chittagong University (CU) students will elect their representatives after 35 years through the vote on Wednesday, reports bdnews24.com.
More than 27,000 students from 48 departments and six institutes of the university will cast their ballots through the 14 annexed halls and one hostel. Although candidates have brought allegations against each other, the election festivity has not waned.
No government-backed student organisations are contesting the election, the first held at the university after the political changeover. There were no reports of any clashes or unrest among the candidates during the campaigning before the election.
General students are also enjoying the poll atmosphere.
The back-and-forth allegations of violating the election code of conduct in the CUCSU elections raised by candidates are just “minor infractions” of the code of conduct, believes Chief Election Commissioner Prof Monir Uddin.
The Election Commission also said it was fully prepared for the polls.
The CEC said they have taken all necessary initiatives to make the elections fair and acceptable. They have done all kinds of work, including supplying transparent ballot boxes and installing CCTV cameras at polling stations, as demanded by the students.
Since the university’s establishment in 1966, student union elections have been held only six times. The Oct 15 elections will be the seventh.
The last CUCSU election was held on Feb 8, 1990.
CU has nine halls for male students and five for female students. In addition, the artist Rashid Chowdhury Student Hostel, designated for students of the Institute of Fine Arts, is located in the city.
CU’s halls can accommodate 25 to 27 per cent of the total student population. Students outside of these halls stay in shared accommodations and cottages adjacent to the university. However, most students live in the city, 22kmm away from the campus.
The administration took various initiatives to bring students to the polling stations. However, some candidates expressed doubts about the voter turnout.
CU Proctor Prof Hossain Shahid Sarwardy told bdnews24.com, "We are trying our best to ensure that students can exercise their voting rights. I can't predict the exact voter turnout. But if the students appreciate our hard work, I am hopeful that 100% of them will come to cast their votes."
"We want them to come. We are trying to ensure that there are no obstacles for students to come."
Voting will be held without a break from 9am to 4pm on Wednesday. It will be held in the IT building, the new arts building, and the science, social sciences and commerce (BBA) faculty building on the campus.
Voting will be held in about 700 booths in 60 rooms across the five buildings. An average of 400-500 students will vote in each room.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has set up a separate polling station on the second storey of CUCSU building for visually impaired students.
"The visually impaired students came to us today (Monday) with a demand to be able to vote in a separate polling station in the presence of an election commissioner. We have accepted their demand," the CEC told bdnews24.com.
CEC Prof Monir Uddin said that visually impaired students will exercise their voting rights under the supervision of two election commissioners.
The total ballot for the CUCSU elections is four pages. The ballot paper for the hall and hostel council takes up one page. The ballot will bear the name of the candidate and the ballot number. Voters will vote for their preferred candidates by filling in the circles.
Ibrahim Rony, vice president candidate of the “Sampratir Oikya Jote” backed by Islami Chhatra Shibir, believes that distance may have an impact on voter turnout.
He told bdnews24.com, "Students have an interest (in voting). I hope most of them will come to vote. We talked about arranging buses and shuttle trains for the students to travel. The administration has made those arrangements. However, it would have been better if the number (of buses and trains) could have been increased further."
Md Shafayat Hossain, general secretary candidate of the Chhatra Dal-backed panel, said: “We feel that many students are yet to return to campus from home after the holidays. Again, most of the students live in the city. Many students do not come to the campus unless they have classes to attend. So we have a concern.”
“Even then, we hope that 70 per cent of those who are present will come to cast their votes.”
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the CEC said that the vacation on campus began on the day the final list of candidates for the election was announced. Therefore, many candidates demanded a postponement of the election. In response to that, the election date has been rescheduled to Oct 15 from Oct 12.
The CEC believes that even though classes started on campus last week, student attendance was low. But this week, student attendance has increased. As a result, voter turnout may also be high.
Dhruva Barua, VP candidate for the leftist student and hill tracts student organisation's panel of diverse unity, said: "Although we expect a large turnout, there is a concern. Because for the last 15 years, there has been a distrust among students about voting."
"Also, after the DUCSU and JUCSU elections, general students think that the results of the vote will favour one group. That is why student attendance is likely to be low."
However, the VP candidate believes that a voter turnout of 60 per cent will be satisfactory.
BUSES, TRAINS ARRANGED FOR VOTERS
The university authorities said that a total of 30 buses have been arranged to facilitate the transportation of students on Wednesday, the day of voting.
Five buses each from the city's New Market and Sholashahar Shopping Complex will leave for the campus at 9am, and five buses will depart from Sholashahar Shopping Complex at 10am.
Meanwhile, 10 buses will leave the campus for the city, five at 3pm and five at 4pm. Then, at 5:30pm, another five buses will leave the campus for the city.
In addition to the regular shuttle train, a special train has been arranged. The special train will leave from Sholashahar for the campus at 12pm.