EVMs drew fewer voters than ballots
Voter turnout at municipalities that used Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were five percent lower than the turnout in municipalities that used ballot papers.
Turnout analysis of three phases of municipal elections held so far revealed the trend.
The Election Commission is holding elections to municipalities in five phases. Three phases have already been completed, on December 28, January 16 and January 30 respectively.
Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar proposed that EC should have a study to know whether there was any distrust among voters about casting their vote using EVM.
"EC should give explanation why there is voter turnout gap between municipalities using EVM and ballot papers. During the last parliament polls, voter turnout rate was 30 percent lower at the constituencies that used EVM compared to ballot paper," he added.
A total of 24 municipalities went to election in the first phase, all held using EVM.
Next, 60 municipalities went for election in second phase, of which 26 used EVM and the rest used ballot papers.
Lastly, 63 municipalities went for election in third phase, all of them using ballot papers.
EC data shows that voter turnout in the first phase was 65.25 percent, while turnout in the third phase using ballot papers was 70.42 percent.
Meanwhile, in the second phase where both EVM and ballot papers were used, the overall turnout was 61.92 percent.
Savar municipality of Dhaka witnessed a 33.59 percent turnout, lowest among EVM-using municipalities.
Turnout at Moulvibazar municipality was 41.87 percent, lowest among municipalities that used ballots.
Kalapra municipalities of Patuakhali witnessed 85.31 percent turnout, the highest among EVM-poll municipalities.
The highest voter turnout among ballot paper-using municipalities was at Dhamoirhat municipality of Naogaon, at 92.14 percent.
Amid reservations of most opposition political parties and experts, and confusion among many voters, the Election Commission used EVM in six constituencies in the 11th parliamentary election in December 2018, for which the average turnout was 51.41 percent.
Total turnout for the polls was 80.20 percent.
Badiul said that EC had promised that vote rigging and other irregularities would decrease if the election were held using EVM. "But I cannot understand the reason of this gap of turnout. Which one is problematic, EVM or ballot paper? EC has the obligation to clear people's suspicion regrading EVM," he said.
"Credibility of EVM is mainly dependent on credibility of the EC. And credibility of the EC has now reached almost zero, so people are finding hard it hard to trust a machine in their hands," he added.
He feared that there are chances of "digital irregularities through the system", as there is no voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) system in EVM machine.
Contacted, Election Commissioner Kabita Khanam said she doesn't think that there is any distrust and lack of interest among voters about EVM.
"Rather, we have seen that people showed interest to cast their votes in EVM. Some people even said they came to the polling centre just so that they can cast their vote using machine. People are curious about how to cast vote using EVM," she said.
"There were difference of voter turnout even among municipalities that used ballot papers. EC will create an atmosphere so that voters can give cast their vote and choose a candidate freely. It was candidates' responsibility to bring voters to polling centres," she said.
Some 56 municipalities will go for election on February 14 in the fourth phase, of which EVM will be used in 31 municipalities.
Elections to 31 municipalities will be held in the fifth phase on February 28, all using EVM.
So far, ruling Awami League candidates have clinched sweeping victories in the first, second and third phases of the elections.
AL contenders achieved success in 18 municipalities out of 24 in the first phase, 45 out of 60 municipalities in the second phase and won 46 out of the 63 municipalities in the third phase.
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