EC wants to spend Tk 8,711cr on EVMs

Without having a feasibility study done, the Election Commission sent a proposal for a development project worth Tk 8,711 crore for purchasing two lakh electronic voting machines and their management.

The EC forwarded the development project proposal (DPP) to the Planning Commission on Wednesday.

According to the Planning Commission's guideline on development project formulation, processing, approval and revision, feasibility study is a must for any project costing Tk 50 crore or more.

According to the DPP, an EVM machine with all its accessories would cost Tk 3.33 lakh and about Tk 6,660 crore would be needed to buy two lakh EVMs.

Another Tk 1,155 crore would be needed to build a warehouse to store them, a customisation centre, and to buy 534 pickups and four SUVs. And Tk 206 crore more would be required to carry out awareness campaigns on EVMs, on voter education, and training officials. The rest will go towards administrative costs.

"There was no feasibility test as we do not have that much time for completing all kinds of preparation for the next national election [in early 2024]," said EVM Project Director Syed Raquibul Hasan, who was involved in the process of the DPP preparation.

He said EVMs were used in six constituencies in the last parliamentary polls in December 2018. The EC has used EVMs in 900 other elections to local government bodies and several by-elections to parliamentary seats. "We have the knowledge about feasibility of EVMs in election."

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in several Ecnec meetings over the last couple of years, has, however, directed officials to invest in projects after conducting feasibility studies.

The EVMs would be used in a maximum of 150 parliamentary constituencies during the 12th national polls. The EC currently has 1.5 lakh EVMs that can be simultaneously used in 70-80 constituencies.

The EC sent the DPP to the finance ministry in September. The new EVMs would cost Tk 3.30 lakh each, including VAT and taxes. In 2018, the EC bought each machine for Tk 2.45 lakh.

This time, the cost has increased due to the weak taka, Raquibul Hasan said.

The DPP of the five-year project proposed setting up 10 warehouses in 10 regions. Each warehouse would have fool-proof security, firefighting equipment and thermostats for proper preservation of the machines.

The Election Commission has chalked out a massive campaign to promote the use of EVMs among people and to educate them on how to vote using the machines.

According to the DPP, the EC has planned to involve eminent citizens in the campaign to combat negative perceptions surrounding EVMs. It has also planned to create a mobile game to promote the positive sides of the EVMs.

The EC is planning to use Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Imo, and WhatsApp, etc. as part of the campaign.

The DPP also said that positive sides of the EVMs should be highlighted on bus and launch tickets, and at bus, rail, and launch stations and at schools, colleges, universities, madrasas, mosques, tea stalls, barber shops, super shops, drug stores, and other places people frequent.

The EVM issue came to the fore especially after Hasina at an Awami League meeting on May 7 said voting machines should be used in all 300 constituencies.