Poor show of voters in mock EVM voting

Only a few voters turned out at polling centres for mock voting using electronic voting machines (EVMs) yesterday.

The voting was organised to familiarise people with the new system, ahead of Dhaka north and south city corporation polls tomorrow.

In the first three hours of the voting yesterday, The Daily Star correspondents visited 18 centres, but they did not find a single voter in 11 centres. The highest number of voters at a single centre was seven. 

The mock voting began around noon and continued till 7:00pm at 2,468 polling centres.

Officials demonstrate how to use electronic voting machines to a woman during mock polling at Dhaka Residential Model College in Muhammadpur yesterday. Photo: Palash Khan

Officials demonstrate how to use electronic voting machines to a woman during mock polling at Dhaka Residential Model College in Muhammadpur yesterday. Photo: Palash Khan

After visiting a centre set up at Sher-E-Bangla Nagar Government Girls’ High  School, Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar said he did not want  to make any comment on the turnout.  

“You know the reason better than me,” he said at about 3:00pm. 

DNCC Returning Officer Abul Kashem said the turnout was very low because it was a workday.

Replying to a query, he said, “Most of the Dhaka citizens are educated.  They will easily be able to cast their votes.” 

DNCC  

A correspondent of this newspaper found that 48 polling officials  were waiting for voters at the Sher-E-Bangla Nagar Government Girls’  High School, which had four polling centres.  

All poling officials refused to talk with this journalist when he asked why people were not showing up.  

At the Government Music College, which had two polling centres,  no voters came to centre number 889 while only one turned up to cast a  vote, till 2:30pm. There were about 20 poling officials present at the  school.   

No voters went to Dhaka YMCA School, which has two poling centres. 

DSCC  

At the three polling centres in City College, no one turned up to vote till 1:30pm. 

“We were expecting voters, but nobody has come as of now,” Ariful  Islam, presiding officer of the centre number 269, said. Most of the  poling officials were seen siting together and chitchatting. 

During the visit, it was found that seven voters cast votes in  centre 76 at Basabo Girls High School. Three turned up to cast votes at  centre 77 and two voters voted at centre 78 -- all housed in the same  school building.  

No voters turned out at centre numbers 79 and 75 at the school.  

Asked why there were so few voters, Md Nasir Uddin, presiding  officer of centre 76, said: “There was huge advertisement of mob voting…  I don’t know why people are not coming. But the voting will continue  till 7:00pm.”