Never said polls would be held this December

The Election Commission has never said the national polls would be held in December this year, claimed Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda yesterday.

People, who are saying that the election would be in December, are giving their opinions, he said while talking to reporters after visiting the stall of the EC at the Unnayan Mela at Sunamganj Govt Jubilee High Scholl ground.

He said the commission was yet to fix the date for announcing the polls schedule.

However, on September 27 and August 7, the CEC said the election schedule would be announced this month and the election was likely to be held in December.

On September 10, EC Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed said the schedule for the 11th parliamentary election could be announced on any date after October 30.

Talking to reporters yesterday, the CEC said, “We have not fixed the election-schedule declaring date … . We did not say that the election will be in this December. Those who said this … might be their own calculation … not ours.”

The EC is showing Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at the stall to get voters familiar with EVMs. 

On EVMs in the next election, Huda urged those who oppose EVMs to see how they work. “If they do so, they will not oppose it”, he said.

The CEC said, “The EVMs will not be used in all 64 districts but it will be used in a limited scale in the next general election and that is why we are displaying EVMs in the EC's stalls at the Unnayan Mela.”