Did aliens cast votes to bring up a 100 per cent turnout?
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda has said that 100 per cent voter turnout in any center is abnormal. Inaugurating a voter list updating training programme at Lalbagh Model School and College on 30 June, the CEC said, “100 per cent turnout is not normal. But we’ve nothing to do with it since the presiding officers disposed the matter immediately after balloting. Nobody informed us of the matters then and EC has nothing to do about it,” (Ittefaq, 1 July 2019).
The final results of 300 constituencies, published on the EC website six months after the 30 December general election, show that 100 per cent votes were cast in as many as 213 polling centres. Such an abnormal scenario has been seen in 103 out 300 constituencies. The CEC has agreed that such a turnout is abnormal. This kind of abnormal turnout may not happen in any elections in any country of the world, let alone in Bangladesh. Elections are not conducted immediately after voter lists are prepared. Rather, elections are conducted after months. Someone might die, fall ill or move to other places in that interval. How can they cast their votes then?
A 100 per cent turnout, thus, is not only abnormal but absurd too. Election commissioner Rafiqul Islam, however, has come up with a strange logic defending this turnout. He said, it cannot be said that turnout was 100 per cent in those centers because some of the votes were rejected. In other words, he implies that the ballots boxes are to be stuffed full and then later the votes will be sorted out, whether they are valid or not.
Much more strange information has been gleaned after analysing the full results. According to the EC, 99 per cent votes were cast in 127 centers, 98 per cent in 204 centers, 97 per cent in 358 centers and 96 per cent in 516 centers. To sum it up, as many as 1,418 centers have seen over 96 per cent turnout. On the other hand, 599 centers have seen as low as 40-49 per cent turnout. 20-39 per cent votes of were cast in 301 centers, 10-19 per cent in 20 centers and less than 10 per cent in 11 polling centers. Such a contrasting scenario of turnout is also not credible.
It is EC’s role to conduct a free and fair election with agents of all contesting candidates in all polling centers who will identify the voters. After balloting, election officials are supposed to count the ballot in presence of those agents of the candidates and sent the result to returning officer with signature of agents. Returning officers would then send the result to the EC after coordinating the results of all centers. All these are normal processes of conducting an election. Unfortunately, most of these processes were violated in most of the centers on 30 Decembers. Polling agents of the opposition candidates were not given entry to polling centers. Declared results were widely incongruous with what journalists and observers saw during the balloting.
Transparency International Bangladesh published a study after the election and found irregularities in 47 out of 50 constituencies.
Among the irregularities, the survey found, fake votes were cast in 41 seats, administration and law enforcing agencies were silent in 42 seats, ballot were stuffed the night before election in 33 seats, voters were driven out or restricted to enter voting centers in 21 seats, ballots were openly stamped after occupying booths in 30 seats, voters were forced to cast their votes in specific symbol in 26 centers, ballot boxes were filled-up prior to the beginning of polling in 20 seats, ballot papers were not available in 22 seats, and polling agents of the opposition were barred entry to polling centers in 29 seats.
The CEC has said that they have nothing to do since the returning officers have sent to results to EC and gazette has been published. Is the EC’s rule just to stamp the paper sent by returning officers? Do not they have—as a constitutional body-- any responsibility towards the voters? It is EC’s duty to create an enabling environment of free and fair election so that the voters can cast their votes without any fear. The EC officials have totally failed to do that. While disposing an election related case on 6 February 2000, an Appellate Division bench of the then chief justice Latifur Rahman, BB Roy Chowdhury, AMM Rahman and Kazi Ebadul Hoque asked the EC to conduct their duty ‘fair, justly and honestly’. What answer the CEC will get if he asks his conscience that had he discharged his duty ‘fair, justly and honestly?
Numerous irregularities of eleventh general election were reported in different media houses including in Prothom Alo. It has been now fully revealed after EC published the full result in its website. According to law, EC is supposed to publish the full result immediately after the election. But they did not do it. Citizen’s platform Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) sought the full result in a letter to EC on 7 March. Getting no response, Shujan sent two letters again on 30 May and 11 June. Shujan secretary Badiul Alam Majumder then asked for the resort to right to information act on 13 June to avail the full result. Finally, the EC published full results of 300 constituencies on their website on 24 June.
Interestingly, no centers of 6 constituencies where balloting was conducted through EVMs had seen 100 per cent turnout. Average turnout was 51.42 per cent in those EVM centers while it was 80.80 per cent in traditional paper ballot centers. The difference between EVM and traditional centers was 29.38 per cent.
The EC had made us see some strange incidents before and after 30 December election. No other candidates except ‘boat’ (ruling Awami League’s electoral symbol) managed to get a single vote in 576 polling centers. The declared result shows us that turnout was huge no matter how meager the presence of voters was during the election day. It is proved that only human beings live on this earth. Some aliens may live on other planets of the universe. Those aliens may have cast their votes in 30 December election, thanks to Huda commission. Otherwise, how on the earth can the turnout be 100 per cent?
While I was analysing the results, a remark of former minister and Workers’ Party president Rashed Khan Menon came to my attention. While discussing recent gas price hike on Thursday in the parliament, Menon said, “the parliament members are ‘Bokaullah’ (one who just speaks), the government is ‘Shonaullah’ (one who just listens) and the parliament is ‘Garibullah’ (one who is poor).” He added that the parliament would be further poor if it does not discuss gas prices. Our economic index is rising, political index is simultaneously falling.
Earlier Menon told a party rally in Barishal that politics is no more in the hands of politicians. Some leaders of Awami League and Jatiya Party also echoed the same voice. They should remember that politics goes out of politician’s control when people cannot cast their votes. Menon and Moin Uddin Khan Badal have termed the parliament as poor. When does a parliament become poor? It’s when people’s voice is not heard there. If this situation continues, the lawmakers would not even be able to play their role of Bokaullah someday.
Restoring people’s right to vote is a must to bring back the politics under the control of politicians. But, no one believes, Huda commission would be able to do that.
*Sohrab Hassan is the joint editor of Prothom Alo and a poet. He can be contacted at sohrabhassan55@gmail.com. This piece appeared in Bangla in the print version of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten here in English by Galib Ashraf.