Voter Turnout Was 17.31% Until Noon: EC Secretary

Shafiul Azim, the new Election Commission Secretary says that the average turnout in the first four hours of the Upazila Parishad polls was approximately 17.31 percent. The fourth phase of the sixth Upazila Parishad elections of sixty Upazilas wrapped up on today.  Earlier voting began at 8am on Wednesday in over 5,000 polling centres which ended up at 4pm.

He expressed his hope that the turnout would be at least 35 percent while speaking at the EC’s Agargaon offices at 1pm.

The vote has largely been peaceful and spontaneous, he said. Voting data has been collected from about 3,500 centres from 8am to 12pm, he said.

“According to the preliminary data, the turnout has been about 17.31 percent so far. Hopefully, voter turnout will increase at the end of the day.”

So far, the central monitoring cell of the EC has not received any information regarding any major irregularities or disturbances anywhere, he said. Four persons were detained and three were fined for attempting to tamper with the polls.

Of the 495 Upazilas in the country, 450 are going to the polls in the sixth Upazila Parishad elections. The remaining Upazilas will hold elections once the terms of their Upazila councils end.

The first phase was held on May 8 with voting in 139 Upazilas. The turnout was 36 percent. The second phase was held on May 21 in 156 Upazilas and the turnout was 38 percent.

The third phase saw another 90 Upazilas go to the polls on May 29 and the turnout was again 36 percent.

A total of 721 candidates are running in the Upazila races in the fourth phase on Wednesday. Among them, 251 people are contesting for the post of chairman, 265 people for the post of vice chairman and 205 people for the post of woman vice chairman.