Correction of voter list goes on at snail’s pace

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Some major irregularities were found in correcting the updated voter list in the capital on the second day of the massive undertaking which is supposed to be completed in only eight days.

Meanwhile the initiative remained nearly stagnant in other parts of the country, reported our correspondents.

It was revealed yesterday that in ward no 42 of the city’s Mohammadpur area some five thousand voters’ names had been deleted from the voter list created in 2000, during the much controversial recent updating of the list.

Angry voters, whose names had been deleted, laid siege to the office of the district election officer yesterday.

The visiting field level Election Commission (EC) officials however did not re-enlist the names as they brought with them only a few forms.

Residents of the area alleged that the filed level officials, who had been involved in the much controversial recent updating of the list, deleted the names because the persons whose names had been deleted are either supporters or activists of the local unit of Awami League (AL) or its front organisations.

But the field level officials concerned yesterday ruled out the allegation saying that the enlisted persons had not been available at their respective addresses when the officials had gone to their doors during the recent updating of the list.

Several residents of Mohammadpur, whose names had been deleted from the list, however said they are the owners of their houses, so the allegation of them not being available at the addresses cannot be substantiated.

They also said major irregularities had taken place during the recent updating of the list, and now during the current initiative for correcting the updated voter list, the same kind of practices are going on even though the acting chief election commissioner (CEC) himself lives in Mohammadpur.

One of his relatives is the vice-president of the local unit of BNP, the residents of the area said adding that this relative of the acting CEC is behind the irregularities.

Field level EC staff are showing blatant reluctance to correct the voter list properly, claimed some angry prospective voters.

The EC staff however claimed that they are not properly instructed about the procedures for including and deleting names on the voter list and that they were not even supplied with enough required forms to do the job.

The fourth move for correcting the already once updated voter list remained snail paced yesterday like the first day of the initiative.

Residents of Hossainuddin Khan and Nawabganj lanes of Nawabganj area in the city yesterday told this correspondent that visiting field level officials did not enlist their names although they are eligible to be voters and their names are not on the list.

They wanted to fill up the forms but the visiting officials did not give them the forms and left the area without enlisting them or giving any satisfactory reason for the action, the residents claimed.

“We were not properly instructed about the process of inclusion of voters’ names,” said ABM Julfikar Ali, a field level official who is also a teacher at Saleha High School in Hajaribagh area.

“We even haven’t got the required forms yet”, said another field level official Ruhul Amin, who claimed that he had to leave the field due to prospective voters’ ire.

Six out of seven field level officials in Hajaribagh area were seen sitting in the teachers’ common room of Saleha High School instead of making door-to-door visits to correct the voter list. Asked why they were not out doing their job they could not give any satisfactory answer.

However, two of them told this correspondent that some of their colleagues had faced wrath of the voters while on duty and that is why they were lounging instead of correcting the voter list.

“We will get relevant instructions from our assistant registration officer (ARO) tomorrow and then we will go out,” said one of the lounging field level EC officials.

“We are visiting different areas to help the field level officials but have yet to notice any activity by them,” said Humayun Kabir, commissioner of ward no 59 in Nawabganj.

However, this correspondent saw a field level official coming to the office of the commissioner who had to soon leave the place amid a storm of allegations from prospective voters who had gathered in the office demanding registration of their names as voters.

“Our ARO briefed us that we don’t need any form to correct the updated voter list,” said Ruhul Amin.

Some other field level officials expressed their dissatisfaction to this correspondent as they were not given proper guidelines and tools to perform their job.

Khairul Kabir, a field level official in Nawabganj area, refused to enlist some hundred residents on the voter list, as they live in slums.

“Most of them live in slums, I am not sure whether they are already voters in other areas or not,” Khairul said.

“I left the place as I didn’t know what to do in that situation,” he said, “I will not go out again today.”

Kanchan Ali Sikder, another field level official, said it is getting exceedingly difficult to perform their job in the current unfavourable political climate.

Harisul Haq, principal of Shaheed Anwar Primary School in Lalbagh did not go out to his designated area to correct the voter list.

“I did not get the voter list of 2000, therefore did not go out to make visits,” he told this correspondent.

“We are not even properly instructed on how to delete and include names”, he said.

“Moreover, I was given only 14 forms for deletion and 9 forms for inclusion of names, which is not enough,” Harisul added.

Our correspondents from Cox’s Bazar, Gazipur, Chittagong, Sylhet, Brahmanbaria, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kushtia, Dinajpur, Bogra, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Netrakona, and Comilla reported that field level officials there have yet to start making door-to-visits in full swing.

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