For the first time in history highest number of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) are being used in the Dhaka city corporation elections. A total of 35,000 EVMs are ready for voters to cast their votes in the two city corporations. With this, 100 percent voting is going to be held through the EVM, which is considered to be a major challenge for the Election Commission (EC) as well as for the government. Never before has the EC introduced such huge number of EVMs. This is the first time EVMs are being officially used in all its centres.
The challenge becomes even more difficult as some opposition parties, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) earlier questioned fair outcome of voting in the use of EVMs. However, the EC officials also have taken various measures from different angles to face the challenge. They have organised various training programmes for the personnel who are assigned to execute use of the electronic voting machines being used for the first time in the country after several piloting with EVM.
The EC officials said, a total of 34,869 EVMs are being used in the elections of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC). Of them, 15,692 EVMs are being used for the DSCC and 13,176 for the DNCC. One EVM will be used in each booth and another will remain standby at each of the centres.
According to the EC officials, a total of 45,770 polling and presiding officers have been trained on the use of EVMs so that voters could cast votes through the EVMs. Of them, 2,468 are presiding officers, 14,434 assistant presiding officers and 28,868 polling officers. Besides, a two-day educational programme has also been held for the demonstrators.
Moreover, about 5,000 personnel from the Bangladesh Army remain present at the voting centres for technical assistances in the use of the EVMs. There will be two army technicians in each of the polling centres. According to the EC, the number of total voters in two city corporations is 54,03,109 and of them the number of voters in DNCC is 30,35,621 while 23,67,488 in DSCC.
Besides, total number of voting centres in two city corporations is 2,473 and voting booths are 13,514. Of them, the number of voting centres in DNCC is 1,349 and voting booths are 7,516 while the number of voting centres in DSCC is 1,124 and voting booths are 5,998.
The elections are being held on two mayoral and 172 Ward Councillor posts. It should be mentioned that although earlier the EVM was used partially in different elections, now the EC is going to use the EVM 100 percent in the upcoming parliamentary by election and city corporation elections. The EC officials also said EVM will be used in all the future elections.
The EC first used EVMs in the Cumilla City Corporation polls in 2012. In 2015, Rajshahi City Corporation election some machines had stopped working on the election day, prompting the EC not to use them further. Instead, the EC undertook a Tk 4,000 crore project to buy more efficient and user-friendly EVMs.
In the December 30, 2018 parliamentary polls, the EC used EVMs in six constituencies, including Dhaka-6. After the December 2018 general polls, new EVMs were used in some polling stations in different city corporation elections, by polls, and upazila polls.