The Women Count, an alliance of nine non-government organisations, yesterday expressed concern over the exclusion of a large number of women in the latest voter list updated by the Election Commission.
It said a campaign to increase the number of women on the voter list was launched in the wake of what it described as an underrepresentation of women in the list.
Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club, Abdul Alim, director of Election Working Group which is a partner of the alliance, said: “We are concerned because over 0.55 million women voters are missing from the list even though it has been updated by the Election Commission.”
“This trend of not including women in the voter list has been around since 2008 and if it continues, the integrity of the voter list will be thrown into question. Also, the women whose names do not appear in the list will not be allowed to vote, which is a democratic right,” he said.
The Women Count, as part of its campaign, will be visiting different areas to help women complete their registrations. It has also launched a website [www.womencountbd.org] to provide all the latest information on the update of the voter list.
Maleka Banu, general secretary of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad which is another partner of the alliance, called on the Election Commission to take extra cautions while updating the voter list. “The task of updating the list began recently and the commission should ensure that all the eligible women have been registered,” she said.
