Use of EVM: Re-election with ballots if turnout below 50pc
Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar yesterday said re-election should be held with traditional ballot papers if polls using EVMs see less than 50 percent voter turnout.
“Re-elections take place in many countries if the turnout is less than 50 percent,” he said while speaking at a meeting with the chiefs of different law enforcement agencies at Nirbachan Bhaban.
The meeting was organised ahead of the two Dhaka city corporations polls slated for February 1.
Mahbub read out a written statement at the meeting in the presence of Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda, two other commissioners and top EC officials.
Mahbub said there were differences of opinion among political parties regarding the use of EVMs in Dhaka city polls.
The commissioner said he supported the use of EVMs in the election for two reasons -- one was that it could put an end to “the culture of casting votes on the night before the voting day” and the other was that it would stop casting of 100 percent votes at any given centre.
“Using EVM in the polls is an acid test for Election Commission… future of the machine is depending on the success of its use in Dhaka city polls,” Mahbub said.
At the meeting, law enforcers urged the EC to restrict the use of personal cars on election day as it would create problems for them to manage traffic as well as the movement of the people related to the election.
EC senior secretary Md Alamgir later said the commission had agreed to the proposal and no private cars would be allowed to ply during the election.
The restriction will be in force from the midnight of January 31 until 6:00pm of February 2.
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