In a recent meeting, the Election Commission decided to purchase 2,535 new Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at four times the cost of the EVMs previously bought in 2011.
Asking to remain anonymous, an Election Commission joint secretary said each of the new EVMs would cost around Tk2 lakh, with the total cost of all the new EVMs amounting to more than Tk50 crore.
In addition to purchasing the new EVMs, the Election Commission has also decided to destroy all the old EVMs.
In 2011, the Election Commission had signed a contract with Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Ltd (BMFT) for the purchase of 700 EVMs at a price of Tk46,501 each, the official added.
He further said the decision to purchase the new EVMs was made despite the lack of a unified stance on the machines among stakeholders, as the Election Commission plans to use them in the next general election and will need to test them in the city corporation polls.
With even just test runs of the new EVMs to cost several crores of Taka, criticism has come in from some quarters regarding the significantly higher prices as compared to EVMs bought in the past. BNP in particular has steadfastly been against the use of EVMs in the upcoming national polls.
Soshasoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujon) Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar said: “There is a debate over EVMs and not everyone agrees that they should be used in the polls. The Election Commission has already decided to destroy more than 1,100 old EVMs which were worth over Tk4.5 crore in total. Why the EC is sparking debate again by buying 2,535 new EVMs is not understandable.”
He added that the Election Commission has a responsibility not to waste taxpayers’ money, and that EVMs should not be used until all political parties had a consensus on the issue.
However, Election Commission Expert Technical Committee member Dr Md Haydar Ali, also professor of the Computer Science and Engineering Department at Dhaka University, told the Dhaka Tribune the reason for the jump in price was because the new EVMs would be made from imported parts and include the latest technology, such as biometric verification. BMFT will import the parts from Apple China and then assemble the EVMs.
He added that the EVMs would be priced at more than $3,000 considering the international market, but BMFT had quoted $2,400, or around Tk2 lakh, for each.
“The new EVMs are much more high-tech than the older models. The old ones could not verify voters’ IDs. The new ones have finger print and NID scanners, so the voter him or herself has to be there to vote. There is no option to cast someone else’s vote on the new machines,” he said.
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Echoing Dr Md Haydar Ali, Election Commissioner Brigadier General Shahadat Hussain Chawdhury the new EVMs would be expensive as they are to be of a high quality.
“We have a committee on the EVM issue, and they surveyed the international market regarding the price. We are following the examples of other countries which have used EVMs, especially India, Pakistan and Brazil,” he said.
Shahadat added that the EVMs would only be used in the general election if they were successful in the local government polls.
Director General of the Election Commission’s National Identity Registration Wing Brig Gen Mohammad Saidul Islam also brushed off the lack of confidence of different political parties, including BNP, on use of EVMs.
“We will use high quality features in the new EVMs. The world is going forward using latest technology. Why should we lag behind?” he said, adding that all political parties would come around once they saw the new EVMs in action.
He further said: “These machines will be more sophisticated and have new hardware and software, projector, motherboard, fingerprint scanner and ballot linkup, among other features. There will be no chance for foul play.”
Election Working Group (EWG) Director Abdul Alim said he did not mind the use of EVMs considering they were thoroughly tested and all political parties had the chance to examine them.
The previous Shamsul Huda-led Election Commission bought EVMs in three phases under agreements signed between April 2010 and July 2011, at a total cost of over Tk4.5 crore.
In the first phase, 130 EVMs were bought at a price of Tk10,000 each, while 400 EVMs were bought at Tk29,350 each in the second phase, and 700 EVMs were bought at Tk46,501 each in the third phase.
The EVMs were bought under agreements with Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in the first two phases, while BMFT was responsible for the third phase.
