Turnout around 22pc in first three hours

Around 22 per cent votes was cast in the first three hours in Barishal city corporation polls as the voting began in the city at 8 in the morning today.

Returning officer Md Humayun Kabir said the voting was slow in the morning but the number of voters increased as the day progressed.

Returning officer told Prothom Alo at 11:15am that 15.96 per cent votes were cast till 10:00am in the first two hours. The turnout increased to around 22 per cent  in the next hour.

He hoped the turnout would increase further.

The voting was slow initially as the voters are mostly not accustomed to Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) as it is being used fully for the first time in Barishal, the RO added.

The voting is going on in 126 polling centers in the city. Barishal city corporation has 276,298 voters. Among them 137,489 are male voters and 138,809 female.  CCTV cameras were installed at 894 polling booths in 30 wards.

Seven candidates are vying for mayoral post while 116 are contesting for councilor post. 42 candidates are contesting for the reserved seats for women councilors.