Contrasting turnout, slow voting
The Sylhet City Corporation elections held yesterday witnessed a mix of contrasting elements as the turnout of voters in the old areas was disappointing, while a festive atmosphere engulfed the newly-included ones, contributing to an overall increase in voter participation.
Despite a few isolated scuffles between supporters of councillor candidates, the polling situation remained largely peaceful throughout the day. However, there were allegations of slow-paced voting in many places.
At around 11:30am, supporters of rival councillor aspirants Abzad Hossen Amzad and Abul Kalam Layek locked into an altercation at the Blue Bird High School Centre, after both the groups attempted to influence people to vote for their respective candidates.
Another incident unfolded at the Lawai Government Primary School Centre, where supporters of three councillor candidates engaged in a heated scuffle after two of the candidates reportedly prolonged their stay inside the polling booths, raising suspicions among their rivals.
The situation at the centre further intensified when the presiding officer, Partha Jyoti Dey, revoke access to a polling agent affiliated with one of the councillor candidates, as the agent attempted to influence voters by entering the secrecy of the polling booth.
In 2021, the city of Sylhet underwent a significant expansion, increasing its area from the original 26.50 square kilometres to 79.50 square kilometres. The residents of these newly-incorporated areas exercised their right to vote as city dwellers for the first time, leading to a surge of enthusiasm and participation in the city polls.
The campaigns by the councillor candidates played a pivotal role in driving the high turnout witnessed in the 14 newly-formed wards. The Daily Star visited nine polling centres located in these recently-established wards, where massive crowds of voters had gathered hours before the polling officially commenced.
However, contrasting scenes were observed at certain polling centres. For instance, at Anandaniketan, two hours into polling, there was no visible queue, and only 142 votes out of a total of 3,536 had been cast by that time. Similarly, in the female centre of Shahjalal Adarsha Girls School, approximately 200 votes out of 1,833 were cast by 1:30pm, while the male centre recorded 326 votes out of 2,087, constituting around 16 percent of the total votes.
At the Dakshin Surma Nasiba Khatun Girls School Centre, only 28 percent of votes had been cast by 3:00pm.
Voters in centres experiencing large crowds had to endure longer waiting times, exceeding the usual expectations.
Presiding officers attributed these delays to the lack of knowledge among voters about the process itself. Rumena Akther, a voter at Shahapur Government Primary School Centre in ward-39, recounted waiting for long three and a half hours to cast her vote. Similarly, Rajab Ali and Bachchu Mia from ward-34 stood in line for three hours at Krishna Govinda High School Centre.
Mohammad Alauddin, the presiding officer of the female centre at Debpur Government Primary School, mentioned that it was taking around 10 to 15 minutes to cast a single vote due to a lack of familiarity with electronic voting machines (EVMs). By 11:45am, out of a total of 2,940 voters at the centre, only 249 votes had been cast.
At the male centre in Rashidia Dakhil Madrasha in Tukerbazar, 197 votes out of 1,957 were cast by 10:00am, while the female centre recorded only 122 votes out of 2,106. Both presiding officers, Joydwip Das and Jahangir Alam, attributed the slow voting pace to a lack of awareness among the voters.
Md Shahnewaz, the presiding officer of the female centre at Amberkhana Girls High School in ward-4, also echoed the same. By 10:00am, out of total 2,293 voters, only 84 votes had been cast at the centre.
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