Voter list gets more kudos
A nationwide independent audit of the country's new digital voter list has concluded that all names on the roll are of legitimate voters and nearly all eligible voters are on the list.
The survey, conducted by Washington-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), found a “high degree of accuracy” in compilation of the voter list.
This first-ever computerised voter list contains photographs of more than 80 million voters and took 11 months to compile. The audit found no 'ghost voters' on the list, according to a UNDP press release issued yesterday.
The audit consisted of two nationwide surveys sampling nearly 17,000 individuals of voting age across the country.
The new electoral roll was designed by Bangladesh Election Commission, with support from Bangladesh Army and financial assistance from Denmark, the European Commission, Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
UNDP also provided technical and logistical support for preparing the unprecedented voter roll. Preparation for the digital voter list required over 10,000 laptops, digital cameras and finger print scanners, all aimed at creating a fraud-proof voter roll.
“The upcoming election represents an historic opportunity for Bangladesh in reestablishing democracy. We are pleased that the current voter list has passed the scrutiny of an independent team of auditors because a credible voter list is an essential ingredient for all free and fair elections,” says Renata Dessallien, UN resident coordinator.
The external audit found that the voter list was geographically uniform, suggesting that the registration process was administered evenly throughout the country. The audit reported that photographs were of good quality and will help ensure that all voters have the opportunity to exercise their voting right in the upcoming election.
The audit also found that more than 99 percent of respondents had confidence in the accuracy of the voter list and gave positive evaluations of the voter registration process. The results indicate that the list meets international standards and is a significant improvement from all previous voter lists.
Comments