Mobile phones allowed in polling centres, no photos in voting booths: EC
Senior Secretary of the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat Akhtar Ahmed said confusion had arisen over carrying mobile phones within a 400-yard radius of polling centres.
He said, “We are correcting this. Voters will be allowed to enter with mobile phones, as will candidates and their agents. However, they will not be allowed to take photos inside the voting booth.”
The EC secretary said the Election Commission had failed to clearly communicate its earlier position, which led to the misunderstanding. “We are revising this circular so that there is no confusion,” he added.
He made the remarks on Monday evening in a press briefing at the Election Commission building in Agargaon, Dhaka.
On Sunday, an EC press release stated that mobile phones would not be allowed within a 400-yard radius of polling centres. Following the announcement, the issue sparked widespread reactions.
National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam had threatened to surround the Election Commission if the decision was not reversed by Monday evening.
Later in the evening, the EC secretary clarified the commission’s position on carrying mobile phones into polling centres. However, he said polling agents, polling officers, and assistant presiding officers would not be allowed to carry mobile phones.
Stating that journalists and election observers would be allowed to carry mobile phones into polling centres, the EC secretary said, “I am confirming that journalists and observers will be able to take mobile phones inside.”
He also said that so far, 540 foreign observers and journalists have arrived in the country in connection with the election. Of them, 60 are members of democratic institutions and organisations from different countries who came at the invitation of the Election Commission.
In addition, 330 individuals have arrived from various international election observation organisations, while about 150 journalists have come from 45 international media outlets. These visitors are staying at a hotel in the capital, he added.
Replying to a query on how long vote counting might take or whether there could be delays, the EC secretary said there was no justified reason for delays in announcing election results. “However, counting will take as long as is required to count all the ballots cast,” he said adding that there was no concern that vote counting would take three to five days.
The secretary also said that following court orders, the EC had corrected ballots in the Faridpur-1 constituency. In addition, ballots have been reprinted in several constituencies in line with court directives.