'Elections to local govt bodies after flawless voter list'

Election Commissioner (EC) Brig Gen (retd) M Shakhawat Hossain yesterday said elections to local government bodies, including Chittagong City Corporation (CCC), would be held after the fresh voter list is made correct and free of faults.
He hoped the CCC election would be held by June next, saying that the time is sufficient to finalise the voter list after completing all processes.
Enlistment of unusually increased number of voters raised doubts about the clarity of the ongoing fresh voter listing processes in Cox's Bazar and Chittagong, he added.
Shakhawat said this after inaugurating a workshop on 'Promoting electoral system' at LGRD auditorium at Sholoshahar in the port city.
As per the statistics of Election Commission, number of new voters usually increases by five percent during the update on voter listing, he noted.
But, over 10 percent increase in voters in the fresh voter listing at several bordering upazilas in Cox's Bazar raised doubts. Around 30 percent of this unusual number of increased voters was reported as Rohingyas.
At the same time, increase of voters ranged between 22 and 25 percent in several wards under CCC, raising suspicion of enlisting double or fake voters, observed the EC.
He said negligence by numerators engaged in field data collection might have created a scope for Rohingyas to enlist them as voters.
Besides, undue political pressure also might be a reason behind such excessive enlisting there, said the EC, calling on the election officials to remain alert to this matter.
He mentioned that Election Commission halted the voter listing process and formed a committee to examine the newly prepared voter list in Cox's Bazar.
If any of the election personnel is found involved in enlisting Rohingyas or fake voters, he or she must face stern punitive action, he warned.
Chittagong Divisional Election Commission MAN Siddique presided over the workshop.