The Election Commission has decided to investigate the low number of female voter enrolment in the current voter list updating that is taking place across the country, said an EC official.
The decision was taken at an EC meeting yesterday.
The commission has also formed three probe committees to investigate why the more women are not enlisting themselves as voters, who would start working soon, said Commissioner Md Shah Newaz.
The commission also formed a central probe committee and 10 sub-committees to find out the reason behind overall low voter enrolment after the first phase, as the targeted number of voters was not achieved.
Since the updating started, more than 2.3 million new voters have been enrolled in the voters’ list, of whom around 1.3 million are male and around 1 million are female.
Earlier, the commission sought the assistance of the Women and Children Affairs Ministry to organise campaigns to spread awareness and encourage more women to enrol as voters.
Officials present at the meeting said the three probe committees would start their investigation at the upazilas that were identified as having the lowest female voter enrolment this week.
The committee is due to submit the investigation report within 15 days.
The commission has identified more than 20 upazilas that have the lowest female voter enrolment. The number was especially low in Cox’s Bazar’s Pekua and Brahmanbaria’s Bijoynagar upazilas, they said.
The commission also decided to send 16 additional registration teams in the two Dhaka City Corporations and Narayanganj City Corporation.
It asked the authorities concerned to start the work by September 15.