The by-election to Faridpur-2 constituency ended at 4pm on Saturday.
However, very few voters were seen cast their ballots using the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) throughout the day in a peaceful manner.
The parliamentary seat was declared vacant on September 11 after the death of the lawmaker from the constituency, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury. The Election Commission announced the schedule for the by-polls on September 26.
Two candidates competing in the election are Awami League-nominated Shahdab Akbar Chowdhury, the youngest son of Sajeda, and Bangladesh Khelafat Movement-backed Md Zainul Abedin alias Bakul Miah.
Presiding Officer of Chandakhola Government Primary School Centre in Saltha Abul Khair said that 13% people casted their votes between 8am-12pm. On the other hand, 400 votes have been cast till 12pm out of 1,800 votes in Fulbaria Government Primary School Centre.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Jeevanshu Das, presiding officer of Saltha Government Primary School Centre, said that even though it was the first time voting through EVM, the voters did not face any problem in voting.
The Election Commission is monitoring the polling through CCTV cameras from Nirbachan Bhaban in Dhaka. There are 1,052 cameras for monitoring everything.
Earlier in the morning, Kazi Nazrul Islam, the presiding officer in charge of the Aminuddin Government Primary School centre, said: “There are 2,086 male voters and 1,996 female voters. So far not even 100 votes have been cast.”
But he had hoped voter attendance would increase as the day progressed.
Mahabul Karim, a police officer stationed at the centre, said: “The polling continued in a fair and peaceful manner.”
Faridpur Deputy Commissioner Atul Sarkar and Superintendent of Police Md Shahjahan visited the polling station around 9:30am. After the inspection, the deputy commissioner said: “All kinds of steps have been taken to make the election free, fair and impartial.”
