The Dhaka-17 by-election saw a low voter turn-out early on as less than two per cent of the votes were cast at four voting centres in the first hour of the polls. More voters will turn up to vote as the day progresses, hoped the officials.
At the Government Homeopathic Medical College in Bhashantek, four polling centres have been set up, two for men and two for women. There are 14 polling booths in the four voting centres where a total of 7,418 voters are registered to vote.
The polls has begun on Monday at 8:00 am, and within the first hour, only 101 votes were cast across the four voting centres. This number represents a mere 1.36 percent of the total registered voters.
The officials were seen sitting idly inside the voting centres as there were hardly any voters. The officials expressed their disappointment over the low turn-out.
In the no.1 voting booth in one of the women’s voting centres, only one vote was cast in the first hour. The presiding officer of the centre Masud Karim told Prothom Alo, “Voter turn-out is low. As it’s a centre designated for women , more voters could turn up at noon. 11 votes were cast in the centre in the first hour. A total of 1,869 voters are registered in this centre.”
Most voters registered under the centres in the Homeopathic Medical College are low-income people who live in the slums in Bhashantek. As it’s a working day, many of them are out for work. This could be a reason why the turn-out was so low in the morning, especially for women.
In the two voting centres for men inside the college, 1,818 and 1,830 voters are registered respectively. In the first hour, just 40 and 35 votes were cast at the centres respectively. Highest 20 votes were cast in one booth.
The presiding officer of one of those centres Sekendar Azam told Prothom Alo, “I didn’t expect the turn-out would be so low. In the first hour, less than 20 votes were cast. The working class people have gone to their jobs. Hopefully, they will find some time in between to cast their votes.”
Paper ballots are being used for this by-polls. The voters are happy that paper ballots are being used instead of Electric Voting Machines (EVM), which had caused voters problems in previous elections.
One of the voters Md Muslim said, “It’s comparatively easier for the less educated and women voters to cast votes using paper ballots. We felt more comfortable casting our votes with paper ballots.”
There are a total of 3,25,205 voters in the Dhaka-17 constituency. The voting will take place on 605 voting booths across 124 voting centres. Eight candidates are contesting in the by-election.
Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) is not taking part in the by-polls.