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Download PDF Secretary to the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat yesterday ruled out possibility of further extending time for updating the voter list even though he said the task was unlikely to be completed before the scheduled date of August 20.
“We are hoping 95 percent of the task would be complete by the scheduled time. If anyone is left out, he or she would have to apply to be registered,” Secretary to the EC Abdur Rashid Sarkar told reporters at his office yesterday.
The EC will sit to review the progress of the ongoing task on Sunday. The time to complete the task is very short as the next parliamentary election is quite close, the secretary said.
On allegations of allowing Rohingya refugees apply to be registered as voters, the secretary said a number of them have applied but their names would be dropped from the list.
Rashid Sarkar disclosed a total of 1.58 crore people have applied to be included in the list while 21.90 lakh applications were received for deletion of names from the existing voter list which has 7.64 crore voters.
In the capital, 15.73 lakh people have applied to be included in the list while 3.77 lakh applications were submitted to the field-level staffs for deletion of names.
According to the existing voter list, prepared in 2000, there are 28 lakh voters in the capital while the nullified fresh voter list witnessed a staggering 37 lakh voters.
Field officials however suggested the total number of voters in the capital would not exceed 30 lakh as they found a huge number of voters not present at the addresses mentioned in the existing voter list.
Questions were raised over the authenticity of the progress report given by the secretary as many field-level staffs in the capital alleged the thana election officers did not take the progress report from them.
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
Following repeated refusals from the leader of the opposition’s home in Dhanmondi to register her as a voter, the EC staffs finally have an appointment to register her and members of the household.
Din Mohammad, temporarily appointed for updating the voter list in Dhanmondi area, told The Daily Star that he had contacted the officials of the residence and they asked him to pay a visit there today.
“I hope I will be able to list Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina as a voter,” he added.
Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League president, was registered in 2000 when she was the prime minister and lived at Ganabhaban at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. She now lives in Dhanmondi.
Meanwhile, the EC officials in Chittagong say they have completed 90 percent of the list-updating work. They however gave the same information seven days ago.
Only three days before the time limit expires, many voters in the port city still wait for their names to be put on the list, sources said.
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