Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal on Wednesday said the delay in receiving votes in electronic voting machines (EVMs) in Rangpur City Corporation election has worried the Election Commission.
“We are trying to overcome the challenges as soon as possible through discussion,” he said.
He made these remarks at an exchange meeting with journalists at Nirbachon Bhabanthe in the capital's Agargaon.
The Rangpur City Corporation poll was held on December 27. Even though the poll was scheduled to end at 4:30pm, it ended at 8pm due to the delay in receiving votes in electronic voting machines.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said the recent election in Rangpur City Corporation was good, fair and participatory.
“We have got some allegations of slow voting due to electronic voting machines (EVMs). In some cases, fingerprints of voters were not matching. We did not have this complaint in any other election, therefore, this allegation worried us,” he said.
“We have taken feedback from those who observed the poll, who worked there as media workers and those who were there as election officers,” he added.
Kazi Habibul Awal said the cause of the crisis has been found. “We will review them and try to overcome the crisis,” he said.
“We will talk to the technical experts about the matter and solve the issue as soon as possible,” he added.
Lauding media participation in the election the chief election commissioner said: “We want transparent, participatory and competitive elections. You have always supported us in this matter. We hope you continue cooperating with us.”