The Election Commission is planning to expand the area it designates as “Rohingya-inhabited special area” to stop the inclusion of Rohingyas as voters.
In order to do so, it has asked its field-level officers to bring Khagracharri and Chittagong under the area and send detailed reports on voter’s enrolment from all upazilas under these two districts.
The commission wants to bring greater Chittagong under scrutiny as Rohingyas continue to become voters. Previously the EC marked three districts situated along the border area of Myanmar – Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati and Bandarban – as the special area and identified 14 localities as Rohingya majoriity areas.
The commission circulated special forms there to exclude Rohingyas from the voter list.
However, Senior Assistant Secretary of EC Mahfuza Akter said people of greater Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Bandarban and Rangamati frequently keep changing their location because of geographic and economic reasons. Therefore, there was a chance of illegal Rohingyas enrolling on the voter list.
The commission yesterday sent letters to the district election officers in Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban, stating that Rohingyas might manage accommodation in the greater Chittagong.
Last year, while updating the electoral rolls, the EC identified 17,000 people as Rohingyas and expunged them .
Meanwhile, the commission has sought assistance from Women and Children Affairs Ministry for organising a campaign in order to enrol more women in the voter list as the number of women voters have been very low.
The Election Commission started updating the voter list from May 15 across the country. EC officials said the voter list updating would continue until November.
