Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal has said that the people are casting their votes in Rangpur City Corporation (RpCC) polls in a festive mood.
He said: “So far, the voter turnout is good. The balloting environment is also great. We have yet to receive any complaints so far.”
The CEC was speaking to the media while monitoring the RpCC polls at the Agargaon Nirbachon Bhaban on Tuesday.
He hoped the festive mood would continue till the end of voting and people would be able to cast their votes without any disturbance.
When asked about the complaint that many people left without voting due to EVM complications, Awal said: "I have heard that the EVM was working a bit slow. However, we will evaluate the number of people who left without casting their votes once the balloting ends.”
Three commissioners are monitoring the RpCC polls from the Dhaka through security cameras at the polling stations.
Balloting for 33 wards of Rangpur City Corporation (RpCC) began at 8am on Tuesday.
The voting will take place via electronic voting machines (EVM) at 229 centres till 4pm.
There are a total of 4,26,470 listed voters in Rangpur city, which sees its fourth election on Tuesday.
The Election Commission has in place six-tier security measures for the RpCC polls on Tuesday.
Nine candidates are vying for the mayoral position and 183 people are contesting councillors' posts under 33 wards. Sixty-eight female candidates are contesting in the polls for 11 reserved seats.
Members of different law enforcement agencies, including police, Ansar and village police, Armed Police Battalion (APBn), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) are on the ground across the city.
