The Election Commission touted the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) as a foolproof alternative to the traditional method of ballot paper, but that too fell prey to sweeping abuse yesterday.

Some 5,045 EVMs were deployed in 845 polling centres in six constituencies -- Dhaka-6 and -13, Chattogram 9, Rangpur 3, Khulna 2 and Satkhira 2 -- and the common complaint of voters was that their ballots were cast by someone else in their presence.

This was feared by majority of the registered parties, including the BNP and its allies, who said the deployment of the instrument would facilitate “the government's plan for election engineering”.

Voters are in a queue at Rayerbazar Community Centre in Dhaka city on Sunday, December 30, 2018. Photo: Sujit Sarker

Another problem with the new voting method used during the 11th general elections was that polling was halted for several hours at many booths for malfunctioning units.

In theory, the EVMs would be activated by the voter's smart card, voter number or national identification number.

The voter would then have to use his/her fingerprint for verification purpose and then proceed to cast vote on the balloting unit, which would be kept in a separate room.

As a result, the voting process would be immune to rigging. When the system worked as it was supposed to, the voting experience was quick and fuss-free, many said.

But what transpired for the most part yesterday was far from it: party activists preyed on voters, most of whom were unfamiliar with the workings of the EVM.

Take the case of Rahima Begum, a resident of CRB area under Kotwali Thana of Chattogram. She was eagerly looking forward to voting on the EVM, but her curiosity turned to despair at the polling booth.

A lady offered to guide her through the use of EVM. “She took my fingerprint and asked me to leave,” the 45-year-old told The Daily Star.

The confirmation on computer after successfully voting in EVM. Photo: Star/Sujit Sarker

She was told her voting was completed, much to her bewilderment. “When I tried to know on which symbol the vote was cast, they simply told me to leave,” Rahima added.

Similar accounts were heard from Khulna-2 constituency, particularly from female voters.

An excited Shelly Begum arrived to cast her vote at Sher-e-Bangla Primary School but a young lady pressed the button to cast the vote on the EVM -- before Shelly could do it herself.

“I could not cast my vote because of that lady,” said an annoyed Shelly.

Sarmin Sultana had a similar experience when she went to vote around 1:00pm. Two women of Awami League tried to enter the voting room with her to guide her through the process.

But when she declined their help, they dragged her out of the centre.

When it was not the case of unwitting voters being exploited, it was the party activists themselves who proceeded to cast votes for absentee voters on the EVM with the help of presiding officers.

Our correspondent visited Wari Girls' Government Primary School at about 2:20pm and saw a young man giving voting numbers to the polling officer, who was inputting the numbers on the EVM one by one.

The voters' profiles were flashing on the screen -- and none of the photos that came up matched with the faces nearby. The young man was using his fingerprint to unlock the voting page for the numbers and understandably they would not match.

Then another man swooped in and used his fingerprint, which unlocked the voting page. Soon after, the correspondent saw that the screen was flashing the message: 'Your voting has been completed'.

When the fingerprints do not match on the EVM, the assistant presiding officers have the authority to unlock the system for 25 percent of the cases.

The correspondent then went to Sher-e-Bangla Balika Mahavidyalaya next, where he saw a similar sight.

In fact, it was more pronounced here: almost all the polling booths had someone else casting votes on behalf of others.

The correspondent approached the presiding officer Shahidur Rahman Khan in his cabin and informed him of the incidents. “I do not know anything of this nature,” he said.

Similar scenes of the system being gamed were seen at the voting centres of Dhaka-6.

At about 3:00pm at Kamrunnesa Government Girls High School, a lady was complaining at the top of her voice that her vote had already been cast. Agitated, she went to the presiding officer to inform of the foul play, but it came to no use.

The correspondent then went up to the polling officer, who seemed resigned to what was unfolding at venue. “There is nothing I can do about it,” he said, requesting anonymity.

Another correspondent arrived at the Sutrapur Community Centre 10 minutes before polls closed and found the venue buzzing with people.

Security forces came in and asked everyone except the polling agents to leave. A swarm of people rushed to leave the venue, and all were wearing badges of the Grand Alliance.

Asked about the large presence of people with no EC passes, the polling agent Fahad said: “It's because the EVM is complicated to use -- we had volunteers to guide them through the process.”

Over at Dhaka-13, voting was paused at six booths in five centres for two to six hours for malfunctioning EVMs. Those who arrived in that time frame had to leave without voting.

The Daily Star visited 17 centres in the constituency and found several machines were unable to read fingerprints.

At Mohammadpur Girls High School, a man complained that polling agents wearing 'Boat' badges were shadowing voters to the balloting room and intimidating them to cast their vote for Awami League.

Awami League candidate Sadek Khan was contesting against BNP's Abdus Salam and Jatiya Party's Shafiqul Islam for the seat.

Voting was still going on at the venue at around 4:15pm.

The assistant presiding officer was seen helping five youths unlock the voting system with his fingerprint. As a photographer tried to take a picture, a youth wearing the 'Boat' badge threatened her and told her to leave.

Over at Satkhira-2, EVMs in two booths of Mridanga and Rajnagar centres were not functioning from the onset. The devices were flown in by helicopter to Dhaka for repair. They were not returned to booths until 3:00pm, our correspondent reported.

A similar incident took place at Nurpur Government Primary School of Rangpur-3 constituency. After being repaired in Dhaka, the EVM was flown in to the venue at about 4:00pm, when voting started again and went on until 6:00pm.

But it was not all bad news: many voters quite enjoyed casting their votes with the EVM.

“It took all of three minutes to cast my vote,” said Mohammad Sohel, a 30-year-old voter after casting his vote at Suritola Model Government Primary School.

Just two buttons need to be pressed to cast one's vote, said Osama Rahman, a young voter.

“It's just so easy to use,” he added.

Delwar Hossain Khokon, a 40-year-old, waxed lyrical about the system after casting his vote at Banglabazar Government Primary School.

“It is a good system if there are no anomalies in voting,” he said.

Leading Indian newspapers editorially commented today on the outcome of parliamentary elections in Bangladesh saying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's return to power is "good news" for relations with India, but cautioned against her government's "authoritarian" strait.

Hindustan Times termed Awami League's landslide victory in parliamentary polls as "stunning" and The Times of India described it as "massive" while The Hindu opined Hasina "remains immensely popular" on the back of a "formidable record of economic growth and social progress."

The editorial in Hindustan Times said "in the last decade of her rule, Ms Hasina has had a mixed track record. While Bangladesh's economy has surged ahead, her record on human rights leaves a lot to be desired."

"Even as Bangladesh is on the brink of shedding its tag of least developed country, the government has crushed all opposition forces in that country. Ms Hasina's regime has harassed journalists, arrested opposition leaders and remained passive to the killing of bloggers," it said adding "New Delhi would do well to quietly remind her from time to time to keep her authoritarian instincts in check."

The Times of India editorial said "it cannot be denied that Hasina remains a hugely popular and under her Bangladesh's economy has posted strong growth …and the country is poised to join the developing countries category by 2024."

It also said "Hasina and the Awami League have a secular vision for Bangladesh …Additionally, the Awami League dispensation has cracked down hard against Islamists and local terror cells. Plus, the ties between India and Bangladesh have soared under Hasina…"

Pointing out that "Hasina's return at the helm of Bangladesh should further aid New Delhi and Dhaka ties," the Times of India said "one of the issues the opposition campaigned on, justifiably, was the increasing authoritarian ways of the Awami League government. Hasina would do well to redress this quickly. Failing to do so would provide scope for the Islamists to stage a comeback."

The Hindu commented that the Awami League "set the agenda for the election and dominated the campaign. Still, the scale of the victory would have taken even her supporters by surprise."

However, it said "the government and the Election Commission could have held the election without being open to charges that it was manipulated" and asked the Election Commission to "conduct a fair investigation into allegations of rigging to restore faith in the poll process."

"There was a crackdown on the opposition in the run-up to polling day. Pro-opposition websites were taken down, thousands of activists were jailed, and political violence was unleashed to target BNP members. The situation was so grave that even one of the election commissioners said there was no level playing field. …Her otherwise impressive record has been marred by her government's authoritarian character.

"The (election) victory is a chance for Ms. Hasina to mend her ways, to be more inclusive and run a government that respects the rule of law, the basic rights of citizens and institutional freedom," The Hindu said.

It added that "For India, Ms. Hasina's victory is good news. New Delhi and Dhaka have deepened economic, security and strategic ties under her leadership. This should continue, no matter what the general election outcome in India in 2019."

The editorial in The Economic Times said the Hasina government's "strong arm measures that give the discredited opposition the chance to cry foul were eminently avoidable."

It said "the shrinking political presence of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which backs Islamists, will ensure that the country becomes far less hospitable to Islamists."

The newspaper said Sheikh Hasina's electoral victory "is important for New Delhi in the context of countering China's influence in the region. India must continue to partner Bangladesh in its economic growth, encouraging Indian companies to invest and working together in climate change, terrorism, migration and energy."

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ICT Affairs Adviser and son Sajeeb Wazed Joy today explained why the Awami League secured absolute majority and its rival BNP experienced a debacle in the 11th parliamentary elections.

In a status published in his verified Facebook post, Sajeeb Wazed Joy has given his analysis of the polls results.

Here is the full text of the status:

The BNP and Okyo Front, having been thoroughly rejected by our voters, have taken to begging their foreign masters for help. They are on an international lobbying and PR blitz to try to prove that our elections were rigged. The fact is that it is mathematically impossible. The Awami League's margin over the BNP is about 49 million votes. It is simply not possible to manipulate elections by 49 million votes without it being caught on everyone’s mobile camera. As for their claims of voter intimidation, even if every voter who did not vote for AL voted for the Okyo Front, they would still be more than 22 million votes short.

Still, a section of our so called "civil society" continues to join the BNP’s international PR campaign against our election. I would like to address all their complaints and raise a few of my own.

The first complaint is that voter turnout was too high and indicates false votes. The final voter turnout figure is 80% and it is not a record in Bangladesh. That distinction is held by the 2008 elections under the 2007-2008 "caretaker" regime when turnout was 87%. The AL won that election in a landslide with 48% of the vote by itself. In 2001 the voter turnout was around 75.6% and in 1996 it was 75%. Turnout was just slightly higher because this is the first fully participatory elections in a decade.

The second propaganda is that the ruling party received 90% of the vote. This is a complete falsehood. The AL by itself received around 72%. Our Mohajote allies received just under 5%. Even the 72% is not a record for the AL. In the 1973 election after Independence the AL received 73.2% of the vote. Just as the reason then was the AL led the country to Independence, our vote increase this time has two very good reasons.

The first reason is simply because our AL Government has improved the lives of our citizens more than any other government in Bangladesh’s history. We have become a middle income country, per capita income has trebled, poverty has been halved, almost everyone has access to education, basic healthcare, electricity, and the list is endless. If there was a way to improve the lives of the Bangladeshi people, our Government has done it or the progress is visible.

Our “civil society” keeps harping about how the Bangladeshi voters are anti-incumbent, but that is just an indication of how out of touch they are with the common man. If you are an ordinary citizen, even if you are a wealthy businessman, your life and business are doing so much better now since the AL has turned Bangladesh into the fastest growing economy in the world. Why would you vote against the government that has transformed your life and business?

The second reason is that our election campaign did not start last year. It started right after the 2014 elections. We have not wasted any opportunity to inform the Bangladeshi people that we, the Awami League, are solely responsible for the positive changes in their lives. All the social and economic successes that have happened were because of the vision, planning, execution and hard work of our AL Ministers, Members of Parliament, Councilors, everyone. While our opposition and “civil society” were busy complaining about problems, we were telling people how we were providing solutions.

One of the favorite refrains of our “civil society” was that we have the largest number of new voters in this election; they don’t care about political parties and would be anti-incumbent. What they did not consider was that these young men and women grew up with the visible development work of our AL Government making their lives better and easier every year. Why would they vote for anyone else?

I have been conducting opinion polls for the Awami League since 2013. If you will notice, there was a dearth of opinion polls from our “civil society” this year. Prior to the 2014 elections they were busy publicizing one poll after another how badly the Awami League was going to lose. The fact is very few people and organizations in Bangladesh know how to conduct an accurate opinion poll. I have studied polling at Harvard and have interviewed and tried several polling teams in Bangladesh before I found the one we use. We don’t do artificial polls to inflate our popularity because that does not give us the information we need. We poll to know what our popularity is for elections and so our polls need to be accurate.

Our final opinion poll two weeks before the elections showed that the AL would receive between 57%-63% of the vote and the BNP would receive between 19%-25%. So how did the AL receive 72% of the vote? Our opinion poll sampled the entire voters list in 300 constituencies, all 104 million voters. But there is never 100% voter turnout and elections were held in 298 seats, not 300. The number of registered voters in the 298 seats was 103.5 million and an 80% turnout means 82.8 million people voted. The AL received about 60 million votes. 60 million out of 103.5 million is 58% of registered voters in those seats. The AL actually received votes on the low side of our poll’s margin of error.

So why did the Okyo Front receive so few votes? There are some very logical reasons. The BNP’s Chairperson has been convicted and is in jail. Their Acting Chairperson is a fugitive who is not even in Bangladesh. Their organization is in complete disarray. But those are not the most significant factors. There is one factor our “civil society” doesn’t want to acknowledge as it makes the BNP look really, really bad!

I’ve observed its effect through annual opinion polls. Once the BNP started burning civilians alive during their 2013-15 arson attack campaign, their popularity fell off a cliff. Prior to the arson attacks the BNP was usually around 10% behind the AL in opinion polls. After the arson attacks they fell 30% behind and kept falling.

Then there was their self-defeating election campaign, or rather a lack of it. The first thing they did was bring out Tariq Rahman to pick election nominees. All this managed to do is remind people of Hawa Bhaban and his corruption and violence. To add fuel to the fire, he picked known and wanted criminals and war criminals as candidates! Do you think their popularity would increase or decrease after this?

Next, the message they kept sending out to their supporters until the last minute was that they would boycott the elections. If you think your party is going to boycott, are you going to go out to vote? This is what caused the drop in their voter turnout and hence, their low percentage of the vote.

Finally, the only message the BNP and Okyo Front had for the people of Bangladesh is that the AL is bad. Given that the people could see the visible improvements in their lives over the past decade of the AL Government this was an extremely tough sell.

The Oikyo Front’s figurehead Kamal Hossain did not even run in this election. Why is that? It is because he knew he had absolutely no chance of winning a seat for himself. Of course, they surprised us. For the very first time in their existence as a political non-entity, his Gono Forum has actually won not one, but two seats! If there was any rigging in these elections, how could an opposition party that has never won a single seat win two?

The truth is far simpler. If you’re a citizen and especially a youth who sees a dynamic leader such as Sheikh Hasina developing and transforming the country, it won’t matter how much mud the opposition slings. At the end of the day you are going to vote for the party that is improving your life and the country.

Strongly denouncing the election-day violence in Bangladesh, Western powers have said there are “credible” reports that polls irregularities marred the voting on December 30.

Diplomatic sources said the strongly-worded statements from the USA, the UK, and the European Union was indicative that they might mount pressure on the Bangladesh authorities for transparent examinations into the alleged irregularities, violent incidents, intimidation and harassment that created obstacles for the opposition candidates to campaign freely.

The UN also echoed the concerns, saying that it was aware of violent incidents and reports of irregularities in the Bangladesh general elections.

“We encourage the parties to address electoral complaints in a peaceful manner and through legal means,” the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general said in a statement on Monday.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller and UN Resident Coordinator Mia Seppo separately met with Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque yesterday and discussed issues raised in the US and UN statements on the Bangladesh polls.

According to diplomatic sources, the US ambassador at the meeting mentioned about a resolution adopted unanimously by the US House of Representatives on December 12.

The resolution (H. Res. 1169) titled “Reaffirming the commitment of the United States to promote free, fair, transparent and credible elections in Bangladesh” had called on the Bangladesh government to respect the freedom of speech and of the press and to heed the Bangladesh Election Commission's request to ensure security for minorities and maintain communal harmony for a peaceful election.

It had also urged the Bangladesh political leaders and judicial authorities to respect the will of voters and ensure that all Bangladeshis would be able to participate freely in the elections, and that the polls would be impartial and inclusive.

Conveying the message of their respective authorities to the foreign secretary, the US and UN envoys said Bangladesh should ensure addressing the claims and allegations of irregularities, said diplomatic sources.

Issues of cooperation and future engagement between Bangladesh and the US and the UN also came up for discussion at the meetings.

Meanwhile, Canada in a statement yesterday said it was disappointed by credible claims of irregularities exhibited during the campaign.

“While welcoming the increased participation of opposition parties in this election, Canada remains disappointed by credible claims of irregularities exhibited during the campaign and calls on the relevant authorities to work transparently with all parties to address these claims,” said Global Affairs Canada.

It called upon all concerned to proceed in a peaceful and lawful manner and to ensure that the rights to freedom of expression and assembly are protected in the transition period leading up to the installation of a new government.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mark Field, British minister of state for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in a statement said, “I am aware of credible accounts of obstacles, including arrests, that constrained or prevented campaigning by opposition parties, and of irregularities in the conduct of elections on polling day that prevented some people from voting.

He called for a full, credible and transparent resolution of all complaints related to the conduct of the elections.

“I deplore the acts of intimidation and unlawful violence that have taken place during the campaign period, and am deeply concerned by the incidents that led to so many deaths on the polling day. My thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have lost loved ones,” he added.

Free, fair, peaceful, and participatory elections were essential to any functioning democracy, said the British minister of state.

“It is vital for the government and all political parties to now work together to address differences and find a way forward in line with the interests of the people of Bangladesh.”

He said the UK would continue to support the people of Bangladesh in their aspirations for a more stable, prosperous, and democratic future.

In another statement on Tuesday, EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Maja Kocijancic said, “Violence has marred the election day, and significant obstacles to a level playing field remained in place throughout the process and have tainted the electoral campaign and the vote.”

He said the relevant authorities should now ensure a proper examination of allegations of irregularities and commit to full transparency in their resolution.

The USA in a press statement said, “We note with concern credible reports of harassment, intimidation, and violence in the pre-election period that made it difficult for many opposition candidates and their supporters to meet, hold rallies, and campaign freely,”

“We are also concerned that election-day irregularities prevented some people from voting, which undermined faith in the electoral process,” Robert Palladino, deputy spokesperson at the US state department said on Tuesday.

The Election Commission will announce next week the election schedule for the 50 reserved seats for women in the 11th parliament, EC Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed said today.

“According to the 11th parliamentary election results, 43 seats will be reserved for Awami League while four for the Jatiya Party, one for Jatiya Oikyafront and two for the independent and other candidates,” Helal Uddin Ahmed told reporters at Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital’s Agargaon.

Besides, the upazila parishad elections will be held in phases from the first week of March, he added.

The AL-led grand alliance secured 288 seats -- the AL 257, the JP 22 and others 9 -- in the December 30 election. The BNP-led Jatiya Oikyafront got only eight seats.