[ad_1]
The scheduled date to vote in the Chittagong City Corporation (CHC) elections was March 29 this year. The Electoral Commission (EC) postponed the polls eight days ago due to the situation in Corona. That vote will be on January 26. For the first time in the election, the voters of this city will cast their vote on the electronic voting machine (EVM). Although the Awami League candidates welcomed the EC initiative, the BNP candidates met the conditions. In its statement, EVM has no objections; However, the armed forces must be deployed in the center.
Meanwhile, despite the use of EVM in all centers, the EC does not accept the help of the army in this election. The EC had planned to receive technical assistance from the army in the postponed elections on March 29. At that time, the EC had said that Army personnel would be present at each center to provide technical assistance in the operation of the EVMs.
Election Commissioner Brigadier General (Retired) Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury told Kaler Kantha on Monday: “Normally, the army conducts winter exercises in January. At that time, there may be trouble getting them elected. Furthermore, the Electoral Commission has started an initiative to make its work efficient by training its own workforce and school teachers without the help of the army. In this reality, the military is not being used for the election of the Chittagong City Corporation.
Previously, he withdrew from the EC’s decision to use EVM in municipal elections. The reason given by the EC is that EVM voting is not possible in all municipalities due to the shortage of manpower due to lack of assistance from the army.
The election of 64 municipalities in the country takes place in the third phase on January 30, two days after Chasik’s election. EVM will not be used in those elections. In this regard, EC Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury said: “It will not be possible to use EVM in the third phase of municipal elections, as it has been decided to use EVM in all centers in the election of the Chittagong City Corporation.”
Meanwhile, the ruling party’s mayoral candidate and supported councilor candidates have welcomed the decision to vote in EVM in the upcoming Chasik elections. However, the candidates for mayor and councilor of the BNP are in the opposite position. They demanded to keep the army armed in the electoral college. At the same time, they say, the commission should take steps to ensure there are no outsiders at polling stations and the polls.
Awami League mayoral candidate M Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, deputy general secretary of the metropolitan Awami League, told Kaler Kantha yesterday: “BNP has spread confusion and propaganda in the past about the EVM vote. But people have understood his propaganda. In fact, the BNP party is like that. They have opposed all good deeds. EVM voting is transparent, free, fair and acceptable. There is no alternative to voting this way.
Jahangir Alam Dulal, deputy general secretary of Mahanagar BNP and candidate for councilor in the BNP-backed 13th general district in the Chasik elections, said: ‘We are not against EVM. However, the presence of members of the armed forces at each voting station must be guaranteed. In addition to the presence of the army, the Electoral Commission must take measures to guarantee that there are no strangers in the booths and centers. Because in the elections in which EVM was already voted there has been fraud. The outsiders voted.
Candidate for mayor of the BNP in the president of the metropolitan BNP. After several attempts to contact Shahadat Hossain, they were unable to locate him.
Mohammad Jabed, a councilor candidate backed by the Awami League in Uttar Pathantuli General District No. 23, said the EVM vote was a transparent process. Voting is taking place in many countries of the world with this modern technology. There is no alternative to voting in EVM. Voters are also getting motivated.
[ad_2]
