5.16cr registered as voters so far

One crore people have been registered as voters with photographs in last 20 days, raising the number of those on the electoral roll to 5.16 crore as of March 22.
Another 3 crore are expected to be listed as voters till the end of June, the time Election Commission's (EC) roadmap stipulates for the field level task to be wrapped up.
According to EC estimates, there will be around 8 crore electors on the register being prepared for the long-stalled ninth parliamentary polls planned to be held by the year-end.
With voter listing picking up momentum across the country, senior officials of the EC and the armed forces are confident of finishing the job well within the time frame.
“On average, four lakh people get registered as voters every day. We have directed the officials to complete the registration by June,” a senior official told The Daily Star yesterday.
Last week, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Islam said registration of 5 crore voters is projected to be completed on March 26.
However, the number has exceeded the 5 crore mark much before that because of faster pace of enumeration in the last couple of months.
The EC reached halfway to voter listing on February 27 by having four crore people on the roll. Then between February 28 and March 22, it had 1.16 crore more listed as voters with the assistance of the armed forces.
Officials engaged in enumeration say if things go according to plan, voter registration will definitely be over by June and the final voter roll with photographs ready by early October, the deadline set in the electoral roadmap.
The commission in association with the army undertook the work of preparing a national voter list with photographs last year under a UNDP project. The overall cost has been estimated at Tk 424 crore with Tk 274 crore of it coming from donor agencies and development partners.
The field level task began in August last year and got on full throttle in November.