Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda has said some of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in the recently-held 11th parliamentary election were faulty.
He made the statement at an inaugural session of EVM training for the upcoming upazila polls, held at the Election Training Institute (ETI), in Agargaon area of Dhaka, on Wednesday.
The CEC added that these machines will be improved to mitigate defects and inconveniences.
KM Nurul Huda told commission officials: “We have trust and confidence in EVM, and we will continue to support this system. However, as the technology is relatively new to us, flaws in these machines may result in the public finding them unreliable.
“It is up to you [Election Commission officials] to strengthen the public’s belief in EVM.”
He furthered: “We initially assured [everyone] that the EVM would deliver polling results within 90 minutes of the ballots being cast.
"However, this was not the case in the general polls. We must focus on the issue that caused that particular problem, and fix it as soon as possible.
“The expansion of EVM usage will curb many of the irregularities that occurred during the voting.”
The CEC did not mention the number of polling centres that will be getting EVMs in the upcoming upazila polls.
