The decision to register voters in 12000 camps to be located at the polling precincts used in the election to the local bodies is undoubtedly a fine idea, and in keeping with the practice prevalent in many advanced countries of the world. But for our people this is a new idea and, as such, it will be a difficult task for the Commission to implement its decision successfully.

The causes that might bedevil the process of successful implementation of this plan are numerous. One of the major problems is that the bulk of the voters, being illiterate, does not understand the crucial importance of registration. Because of this, many of them will remain busy with their household business rather than going to camps to stand in a queue for hours for offering their particulars and photographs.

Another problem is that the voters have become accustomed to the process of registration at their residences due to the practice of registration by house-to-house visit for over a period of more than 50 years. Hence, the call of the Election Commission to come to the camps for registration might not be favourably responded to by the voters .

The poverty and the illiteracy together will also contribute their share in opposing successful implementation of the program. The uneducated and poverty-stricken section of the population is ever busy with activities connected with the earning of their livelihood. They might, therefore, view the visit to camps leaving their work unattended as unproductive. Though the position is so, the voters still turn up in large numbers to cast their votes.

They do so, generally, in view of gratification given to them by unscrupulous candidates before the voting. But the arrangement for registration in camps will be free from such allurement to attract the voters to come to the camps. Because of this bare fact, the chances of voters coming to the camps are minimal. Further, the most difficult problem associated with the program is obtaining photographs of voters, for being photographed is still viewed as a sin by the ladies of the conservative section of the Muslim society.

Experience shows that collection of photographs, even by visiting the houses, proved to be unsuccessful during the operation undertaken by the Election Commission for preparation of ID card for the voters. How can one, under the circumstances, expect that the ladies belonging to the said category will visit the camps for being photographed?

It is perhaps not unknown to the Commission that there are places where ladies do not come to the polling stations even to cast their votes. Chandra Dighalia in Sadar upazila of Gopalganj district, and Durgapur and Saiani unions of Begumganj upazila of Noakhali district are amongst those places. Besides, to avoid unforeseen problems, parents, in many cases, may not agree to offer the photographs of their young and unmarried daughters.

It is perhaps known to many that, in the past, serious attempts were made by the Commission to provide Identity Cards to voters. For doing that, the Commission not only sent teams of photographers with digital cameras to each and every house of the country but, before abandoning the project, also set up camps and made appeals to the voters to visit them to offer their photographs, but the response, even in the capital city, was very poor. Consequently, the camps were closed down and the project was abandoned after incurring an expenditure of about Taka 25 million. In view of what has been mentioned above, it seems to be safer for the Commission to review the decision already taken.

The Awami League has already demanded sending of teams with equipments to the houses of the voters for the purpose of taking their particulars and photographs. From my long association with the process of registration of voters, I found on each occasion that the majority of the voters did not show any interest in even coming to the office of the Registration Officer for filing claims and objections to enable the Commission to update the voters list. In view of this, sending of registration staff with cameras and other equipments seems to be the only method that may yield better results.

Now a mild comment on the decision of the Commission for simultaneous production of voters list with photograph and the national identity card. In this context, let us see what are the functions of the Commission under the Constitution. The functions of the Election Commission have been very clearly spelt under article 119 of the Constitution. This article says that the Commission shall:

• Hold elections to the office of president.
• Hold election of members of Parliament.
• Delimit the constituencies for the purpose of election to Parliament.
• Prepare electoral rolls (voters list) for the purpose of elections to the office of president, and to Parliament.

The constitutional provisions reproduced above clearly indicate that the preparation of voters list, but not the national identity card, is one of the functions of the Election Commission. The preparation and supply of the national identity card is logically the responsibility of the Home Ministry of the Government.

One is, therefore, at a loss to understand why the Election Commission is going beyond its constitutional mandate by assuming the gigantic task of preparation and supply of national identity card. The acceptance of this additional and extra-constitutional responsibility by the Commission at this crucial stage shall definitely retard the progress of preparation of electoral roll plunging the Commission in insurmountable difficulty and uncertainty.

The Commission should, therefore, give second thought to its decision. The path taken by the Commission to surmount the problems being faced by the country is extremely slippery. It should, therefore, advance very cautiously to avoid possible accidents.

The writer is the Executive Director of FEMA and held the post of the Deputy Secretary (Elections) in the Election Commission from 1979 to 1992.