Polls before Oct ‘08

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Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday disclosed a plan for holding the parliamentary elections before October next year by preparing the voter list with photographs within July, three months earlier than the deadline.

“The voter list with photographs should be ready in July next year if we can achieve our target in line with the projection. And in that case, the [parliamentary] elections can be held before October,” Huda told reporters at his office.

The chief adviser also recently announced that the parliamentary polls will be held earlier than the set deadline if the voter list is ready earlier.

The Election Commission (EC) also plans to simultaneously hold polls to five city corporations–Dhaka, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet and Barisal–in between March and April next year as the voter lists for these areas will be ready by January.

Huda also disclosed the EC’s comprehensive plan to kick off the countrywide field level task for voter listing on a large scale from early next month.

The field level job for simultaneously preparing the voter list with photographs and national identity cards will begin in 76 upazilas of 64 districts with a target to register around 1.63 crore voters by next December. The ongoing task of listing around 92 lakh voters in 34 places will be completed by the third week of next month.

“We hope 21-26 percent of the whole task will be done in December, registering 2.53 crore voters,” Huda said. The EC estimates that the total number of voters will be nine crore.

Earlier on July 15, the EC announced the much-talked-about electoral roadmap for holding the next national polls, stipulating that a voter list will be ready by October 2008 and the stalled parliamentary polls will definitely be held by December.

In its original plan announced on April 5, the EC said the field level task for preparing the voter list would start in November, but it started the work in August on a limited scale.

The CEC yesterday said the EC has so far received 1,950 laptops and other accessories as donation for the task and the commission is now receiving equipment it had ordered. As per the EC plan, a total of 7,215 laptops will be used for the countrywide voter-listing task.

In line with the EC plan, the field level election officials have already started making preparations–selecting enumerators, supervisors, data entry operators and arranging their training.

The enumerators will collect particulars of prospective voters by visiting door to door. A week into the beginning of data collection, the supervisors will start examining the authenticity of the collected information. After the verification, data entry operators will start their job.

At the same time, voters will start visiting the registration centres to have their photographs and fingerprints taken for the voter list and national identity cards.

The voter-listing task in other areas of the 64 districts will begin soon after the task in 76 upazilas is completed.

The EC has already announced that the field level task for voter listing in areas under Dhaka City Corporation will begin from December. But before that, the field level task will begin in three adjacent union parishads–Dania, Sultanganj and Uttar Khan–from October.

Spelling out the EC plans, the CEC said the commission is on the right track and the task has gained speed with cooperation from all.

“People are enthusiastic about the preparation of the voter list with photographs and we believe the job will be done before the set deadline,” said Huda.

LOCAL GOVT POLLS
The EC announced earlier that the long due polls to Rajshahi City Corporation will be held by the end of January or in February next year as the voter list for the area is almost ready.

The CEC, however, said yesterday they are now thinking to hold the polls to the five city corporations and a few municipalities simultaneously by March-April.

Asked about the reason for holding the local government polls before the parliamentary ones, Huda said many local government bodies have long been anarchic since the expiry of the elected chairmen’s tenure.

“We are planning to hold polls for local government since it is our responsibility and the voter list will be ready for the polls of some local government bodies,” the CEC said.

THE 76 UPAZILAS
The field level task for voter listing in the following upazilas will begin on different dates in November: Dhamrai, Faridpur sadar, Kaliganj, Shib Char, Manikganj sadar, Munshiganj sadar, Bandar, Palash, Ghorashal, Shariatpur sadar, Dupchachia, Shajahanpur, Kushtia sadar, Meherpur sadar, Naogaon sadar, Natore sadar, Chapainawabganj sadar, Pabna sadar, Puthia, Tanore, Rajbari sadar, Chuadanga sadar, Jamalpur sadar, Kishoreganj sadar, Phulbaria, Atpara, Netrakona sadar, Sirajganj sadar, Sherpur sadar, Delduar, Mirzapur, Thanchi, Anowara, Hathazari, Cox’s Bazar sadar, Mahalchhari, Matiranga, Barakal, Rajasthali, Ashuganj, Sarail, Chandpur sadar, Hajiganj, Brahmanpara, Burichang, Daudkandi, Feni sadar, Habiganj sadar, Raypur, Moulvibazar sadar, Noakhali sadar, Sunamganj sadar, Sylhet sadar, Bagerhat sadar, Agailjhara, Gaurnadi, Gopalganj sadar, Bagherpara, Jhalakathi sadar, Jhenidah sadar, Paikgachha, Magura sadar, Narail sadar, Patuakhali sadar, Pirojpur sadar, Satkhira sadar, Dinajpur sadar, Gaibandha sadar, Joypurhat sadar, Kurigram sadar, Aditmari, Nilphamari sadar, Panchagarh sadar, Badarganj, Taraganj and Thakurgaon sadar.

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