Sylhet city polls: 20pc of votes cast in first 5 hours

Approximately 20 per cent of votes have been cast in the first 5 hours of the Sylhet City Corporation election.

Tarek Ahmed, the additional regional election officer and city election returning officer of Sylhet, confirmed this information to Prothom Alo at around 1:30 pm on Wednesday.

The voting process commenced at 8:00 am on Wednesday and will conclude at 4:00 pm.

Tarek Ahmed mentioned that the voting pace has been relatively slow due to some voters being unfamiliar with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and a lower turnout at certain centres. However, it is expected that the speed of voting will increase as the day progresses. So far, the voting environment has remained peaceful, he added.

In this election for the Sylhet City Corporation, all 190 centres are utilising EVMs for voting. With a total of 42 wards, the city has a voter population of 487,753.

Eight candidates are vying for the position of mayor, while 359 candidates are contesting for councillor positions, including both general and reserved seats. Among the 190 centres, law enforcement agencies have designated 132 as “risky.”

During a visit to three centres in the city, it was observed that there was a higher turnout of female voters compared to male voters. However, several voters expressed their concerns about the slow voting process, which resulted in longer waiting period in queues to cast their votes.