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A consumers’ welfare association called for introducing ‘online voting’ apart from the country’s existing manual or physical voting system in the pandemic.
Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumer Association made the demand in a statement sent to the media on Sunday.
“Experts and the world health organisation (WHO) have already warned that the second wave of coronavirus pandemic is soon to be approaching. The election commission (EC) continues the processes for holding by-election in the country to meet the constitutional obligations. The union Parishad level elections will also be held very soon. But due to a large number of voters, the health safety guideline during voting could not be maintained,” said Mohiuddin Ahmed, president of the platform in the statement.
All the activities across the country are being conducted online since last March in the pandemic, then why shouldn’t the online voting be introduced, he questioned, raising the demand for an online voting system.
“We came to know that initiatives were taken by the EC for holding an online voting but nothing happened. Besides, about 1.0 million government employees are deprived of voting during the elections in the country. Through voting online, security, finance and health rules can all be complied with and the votes of a large number of voters can be ensured,” he added.
The association called upon the EC to introduce online voting system to ensure health and safety of voters, the media release read.