An estimated 50% of votes were cast in the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC), Election Commission Secretary Humayun Kabir Khandaker has said
Around 31% of votes were cast in the Tangail by-polls and around 60% at the other five municipalities elections, he added.
There have been no reports of any violations, so far, the EC secretary further said.
He made the remarks while reading out a written statement at the Election Commission Media Centre in Agargaon, Dhaka on Sunday.
Regarding delays in casting votes with EVMs, Humayun Kabir Khandaker said the commission had organized a mock vote with the machines but most women did not attend.
“As most women did not attend the mock vote, some of them had trouble with the EVMs. Presiding officers explained the process to them and everyone who came to cast their votes were able to do so,” he said.
Regarding Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar’s claims of a lawmaker breaching the electoral code of conduct by campaigning for the polls, the EC secretary said: “He [Talukdar] is entitled to his opinion. The district returning officer has addressed all the allegations that he received.”
After a heated election campaign over 18 days, voting in the Narayanganj elections started at 192 polling centres in 27 wards of the city at 8am on Sunday and continued till 4pm without any break. There were 1333 polling booths in the 192 centres.
The constituency has a total of 517,362 registered voters – 259,846 men, 257,511 women and four people from third gender communities.
Voters stamped ballots to select the mayor, nine reserved women councillors and 27 councillors. Seven candidates contested the mayoral race, while 148 candidates contested the general councillor posts and 34 candidates contested the reserved councillor seats for women.