The presence of voters in the two ongoing Dhaka city corporation elections has been increasing in comparison to the early stage of the polls, starting at 8am.
However, the upward trend in voters’ turnout was not as satisfactory as expected.
After visiting a number of polling centers in Dhaka South and North city corporations on Saturday, our correspondents and photojournalists noticed a small increase in the number of voters at the centres.
Voters standing in queue with their smart identification card in their hands outside Shahid Shajahan Government Primary School Centre in Dhaka on February 1, 2020 | Mehedi Hassan/Dhaka Tribune
However, they said the gathering of voters was limited.
"The voter turnout is low as young voters rise late from bed, " said Dhaka North City Corporation’s Returning Officer Abul Quashem, after our correspondent’s visit to the IEC School and College centre in Dhaka's Uttara sector 5 in the morning.
“The presence of voters will increase after the youths wake up and come out,” he added.
Our correspondent Mizanur Rahman reported that the number of voters at four centres in Bhashantek School and College did increase, albeit slowly.
Some 8,599 voters are registered with the centres. Till 11am, only 780 voters cast their votes; however, more voters were coming towards the centres as the day wore on, he said.
Dhaka Tribune’s Hasan Al Javed reported from Old Dhaka that only a handful of voters were seen at Tikatuli Qamrunnesa Girls’ High School even after an hour of the polls’ opening.
However, the situation changed a lot in the first couple of hours, according to the news reports published around midday.