CEC says 100pc voter turnout not normal

Noting that 100 per cent voter turnout in any polling station is not 'normal', the chief election commissioner on Sunday said the commission has nothing to do with it once the gazette of the election result is published, reports UNB.

"I think, hundred per cent voter turnout in any polling station is not a normal matter," CEC KM Nurul Huda said.

He made the remark while replying to a question from reporters after inaugurating a voter list updating training programme at Lalbagh Model School and College in the city.

In the 30-December general election, the voter turnout was 100 per cent in at least 69 polling stations under different constituencies, according to the EC centre-wise election results.

The CEC said, "Presiding officers usually dispose of polling stations-based disputes immediately after the balloting. Then the returning officers send the compiled results to us. We didn't receive any complaint at that time. So, now the EC has nothing to do."

Nurul Huda explained that the gazette of any election result is published soon after the balloting.

"Once the gazette is published, the EC has nothing to do. So, there's no scope to investigate it."

He, however, said there is a scope to file cases with the court in this regard. "And the court has the scope to examine it. If any case is filed with the court, then we'll have to do what the court will say," he said.

In the future, the CEC said, votes will be cast through electronic voting machines (EVMs) to prevent election irregularities.