Publish : 16 Jan 2022, 09:29 PMUpdate : 14 Oct 2022, 05:49 PM
Physical disability could not stop 70-year-old Fatma Begum from voting for her preferred candidate at the Narayanganj City Corporation elections.
Many others like her also overcame various obstacles, including technical difficulties and problems using electronic voting machines for the first time, to ensure a good turnout at the polls.
“I had to wait for half an hour as I was having some fingerprint recognition issues,” Fatma told Dhaka Tribune.
A number of other female voters were also having fingerprint recognition issues, as their fingerprint patterns had changed due to cuts and stains from chopping food and grinding herbs. Polling officer Jamil Hossain said Fatma’s fingerprint pattern had likely changed due to betel leaf stains.
Despite the repeated failed attempts, Fatma refused to leave without casting her vote.
Fatma’s daughter Halima initially struggled to cast her own vote through the EVM and was eventually able to do so after some time. Later, she helped her visually impaired mother with the voting process.
Voting ended at the NCC elections on Sunday amid a peaceful atmosphere, with officials reporting a good turnout.
Voting at 192 polling stations began at 8am and continued without any interruption until 4pm.
For the first time, EVMs were used at all centres across the industrial city to serve an electorate of a little over half a million.
Around 35-40% of the votes had been cast in the first four hours, according to District Deputy Commissioner Mostain Billah. At a press briefing in the afternoon, the EC said an estimated 50% of votes had been cast by the close of the NCC polls.
Narayanganj residents voted to decide whether to re-elect Selina Hayat Ivy as mayor for a third term or replace her with expelled BNP leader Taimur Alam Khandaker. Ivy defeated her closest rival by 69,000 votes.
The BNP boycotted the elections, but Taimur decided to continue his mayoral run as an independent candidate and was subsequently removed from a senior position in the party.
NCC polls: 70-year-old visually impaired woman casts vote
Many women faced fingerprint recognition issues due to cuts and stains from cooking
Physical disability could not stop 70-year-old Fatma Begum from voting for her preferred candidate at the Narayanganj City Corporation elections.
Many others like her also overcame various obstacles, including technical difficulties and problems using electronic voting machines for the first time, to ensure a good turnout at the polls.
“I had to wait for half an hour as I was having some fingerprint recognition issues,” Fatma told Dhaka Tribune.
A number of other female voters were also having fingerprint recognition issues, as their fingerprint patterns had changed due to cuts and stains from chopping food and grinding herbs. Polling officer Jamil Hossain said Fatma’s fingerprint pattern had likely changed due to betel leaf stains.
Despite the repeated failed attempts, Fatma refused to leave without casting her vote.
Fatma’s daughter Halima initially struggled to cast her own vote through the EVM and was eventually able to do so after some time. Later, she helped her visually impaired mother with the voting process.
Voting ended at the NCC elections on Sunday amid a peaceful atmosphere, with officials reporting a good turnout.
Voting at 192 polling stations began at 8am and continued without any interruption until 4pm.
For the first time, EVMs were used at all centres across the industrial city to serve an electorate of a little over half a million.
Around 35-40% of the votes had been cast in the first four hours, according to District Deputy Commissioner Mostain Billah. At a press briefing in the afternoon, the EC said an estimated 50% of votes had been cast by the close of the NCC polls.
Narayanganj residents voted to decide whether to re-elect Selina Hayat Ivy as mayor for a third term or replace her with expelled BNP leader Taimur Alam Khandaker. Ivy defeated her closest rival by 69,000 votes.
The BNP boycotted the elections, but Taimur decided to continue his mayoral run as an independent candidate and was subsequently removed from a senior position in the party.
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