Electronic voting machines (EVMs) were introduced in Bangladesh to resolve problems of using paper ballots. [1] They were first successfully used in 2007 for the election of the working committee of Dhaka Officers' Club. Since then, EVMs have been used sparingly in various city corporation elections in the country. [2] In 2018 they were used in six constituencies for the first time in a general election. [3]
In 2007 SM Lutfar Kabir, head of the ICT division of BUET took the charge of building EVMs and submitted the proposal to the Caretaker government. [4] A EVM manufacturer named Pilab Bangladesh was involved in the project. They proposed to the government to use EVMs in all national elections after its successful use in the working committee of Dhaka Officers Club the same year. The project was not implemented as the work of making voter lists with pictures was not completed. [5] Later, the commission headed by Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda conducted EVMs in 14 polling stations on an experimental basis in the 2010 Chittagong City Corporation elections and it was a success. The EVMs were taken from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory. Afterwards, the commission headed by Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed tried to use the EVMs in the Rajshahi City Corporation elections. A sudden error appeared on the machine. The manufacturer could not resolve this error. As a result, about 1,200 EVMs were canceled. [6] Later, the commission headed by KM Nurul Huda took the initiative to introduce a new voting system. The commission bought high quality EVMs from abroad and claims that these new machines are more efficient than before. As a result, the EVM system was used in two polling stations in Rangpur in December 2016 and Khulna City Corporation in May 2016. Following this success, the Bangladesh Election Commission has announced the introduction of EVMs in one-third of the seats in the Eleventh Parliamentary Elections. However, various political parties have protested against this decision. [2] The Bangladesh Nationalist Party and other political parties have been agitating against the EVM system in Bangladesh since its inception. They think that the governing party will be able to rig the vote easily with the EVMs. [7] [8]
To reduce the use of paper ballots, the Election Commission (EC) has taken an initiative to buy 150,000 EVMs. With a budget of 4 thousand crore taka, this project will be implemented between July 2018 and June 2023. The project includes 3515.61 crore taka for EVM purchases, 5 crore taka for publicity, 6 crore taka for transport, 3.3 crore taka for motor vehicles, 50 crore taka for computer software and 75 crore taka for furniture. [9]
130 EVMs were produced ahead of the Chittagong City Corporation Elections to be held on 16 June 2010. Of these, 100 machines were brought to Chittagong for voting. EVMs were installed in 79 booths in only 14 polling stations. A total of 93 EVMs were installed, one for each of the 79 booths and an additional 14 at each of the 14 centers. 25 thousand 238 voters cast their votes. This led to rapid voting and success in the results. [2]
Comilla City Corporation organized their first election in 2012. All the centers used EVMs. [10]
The first general election in which the EC used EVMs was in 2018. EVMs were installed in 6 out of 299 constituencies. [11]
Most Bangladeshi people live in rural areas. They are not familiar with modern voting technologies. It is a method completely unknown to educated voters too. Therefore, the Election Commission has sent experienced trainers to different parts of the country to train the voters on the rules and regulations of voting through EVMs. [12]
Electronic voting is the standard means of conducting elections using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in India. The system was developed and tested by the state-owned Electronics Corporation of India and Bharat Electronics in the 1990s. They were introduced in Indian elections between 1998 and 2001, in a phased manner. Prior to the introduction of electronic voting, India used paper ballots and manual counting. The paper ballots method was widely criticised because of fraudulent voting and booth capturing, where party loyalists captured booths and stuffed them with pre-filled fake ballots. The printed paper ballots were also more expensive, requiring substantial post-voting resources to count hundreds of millions of individual ballots. Embedded EVM features such as "electronically limiting the rate of casting votes to five per minute", a security "lock-close" feature, an electronic database of "voting signatures and thumb impressions" to confirm the identity of the voter, conducting elections in phases over several weeks while deploying extensive security personnel at each booth have helped reduce electoral fraud and abuse, eliminate booth capturing and create more competitive and fairer elections. Indian EVMs are stand-alone machines built with Write once read many memory. The EVMs are produced with secure manufacturing practices, and by design, are self-contained, battery-powered and lack any networking capability. They do not have any wireless or wired internet components and interface. The M3 version of the EVMs includes the VVPAT system.
India has a parliamentary system as defined by its constitution, with power distributed between the central government and the states. India is the largest democracy in the world.
Comilla, officially spelled Cumilla, is a metropolis on the banks of the Gomti River in eastern Bangladesh. Comilla was one of the cities of ancient Bengal. Also the city of Comilla was once the capital of Tripura kingdom. Comilla Airport is located in the Dulipara area of Comilla city. Along with the Comilla Economic Zone EPZ, various industrial factories have come up at the airport, making the airport area a business and commercial city. Comilla City is a division centered city district with surrounding districts coming to Comilla in more diverse areas of work. Besides, Bibi Bazar land port has come up 5 km away from Comilla city. The area of Comilla City Corporation is 53.04 square kilometers, so the surrounding areas of the main city fall under the jurisdiction of the City Corporation. The urban areas falling outside the city corporation are considered as suburbs with a population of 6 hundred thousand.
The Bangladesh Election Commission, abbreviated and publicly referred to as EC, is an independent constitutional body that operates the legal functions of election laws in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited (BMTF) is a commercial automobile assembly plant of the Bangladesh Army. It mainly engaged to build and modify automobiles specially for defence industry. It is located at Gazipur, about 40 km from Dhaka.
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General elections were held in Bangladesh on 30 December 2018 to elect 300 directly-elected members of the Jatiya Sangsad. The result was another landslide victory for the Awami League-led Grand Alliance led by Sheikh Hasina.
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Dhaka-6 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh since 2014 by Kazi Firoz Rashid of the Jatiya Party (Ershad).
Brahmanbaria-5 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh since 2019 by Mohammad Ebadul Karim Bulbul of the Awami League.
Chittagong-9 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh since 2018 by Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury of the Awami League.
Brahmanbaria-6 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh since 2008 by AB Tajul Islam of the Awami League.
Comilla-6 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh since 2008 by A. K. M. Bahauddin Bahar of the Awami League.
Comilla-10 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh since 2008 by Mustafa Kamal of the Awami League.
Rangpur-3 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh. Saad Ershad is the current MP of this constituency.
Chittagong-8 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh. The incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) of this constituency, Noman Al Mahmud.
Bhola-3 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh since 2010 by Nurunnabi Chowdhury of the Awami League.
The 2020 mayoral election of Dhaka North City Corporation was held on 1 February 2020. A total of 6 candidates participated in the election. The result was a victory for the Awami League candidate Atiqul Islam. However, the results were rejected by main opposition candidate, Tabith Awal of Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Bangladesh election commission scandal of 2020 is the revelation of a series of corruption allegations, moral degradation of the commissioners and evidence of gross misconducts before and after the controversial 2018 Bangladeshi general election and 2019 Upazila polls in Bangladesh. Allegations included the misappropriation of around 20 million Bangladeshi taka for imaginary programs, embezzlement of 40.8 million BDT during the recruitment process of election commission staffs, purchasing the electronic voting machine at a higher price than the market rate, usage of extra cars by three election commissioners flouting rules and facilitating continuous and numerous election fraud by not investigating credible allegations of irregularities during the 11th Parliamentary Election and elections in Dhaka North and Dhaka South City Corporations, Khulna City Corporation, and Gazipur City Corporation.
The 2020 mayoral election of Dhaka South City Corporation was held on 1 February 2020. A total of 6 major candidates participated in the election. The result was a victory for the Awami League candidate Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh. Ishraque Hossain of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party received the second highest number of votes.
