Voting in Gazipur City Corporation election ends peacefully amid festivity

The Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) smoothly conducted its third elections on Thursday. 

Over 1,179,000 voters were listed for the polls in which eight candidates vied for the mayoral position and 325 contenders ran for councillors' posts across 57 wards and 11 reserved seats.

The election kicked off at 8am, as polling stations across 480 centres opened for voting. 

The city witnessed a festive atmosphere with long queues of enthusiastic voters seen outside polling centres since the early hours. 

Female voter turnout was particularly noted to be higher than males. 

Dhaka Tribune

As the day advanced, queues at every centre became even longer, highlighting the democratic spirit of Gazipur's citizens.

To facilitate smooth voting, over 5,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs) were deployed. 

Notably, no complaints were lodged regarding the use of these machines. 

Two technical experts were stationed at each polling centre, ensuring any potential technical glitches with the EVMs could be swiftly rectified.

A comprehensive surveillance system was put in place by the Election Commission (EC). 

Dhaka Tribune

CCTV cameras were installed at every polling centre and booth, and the EC employed 4,435 of these cameras to keep a keen eye on the proceedings in 466 polling booths.

To provide constant surveillance, an auto-rotated digital display system was used.

The election was closely monitored by Election Commissioners Brigadier General Retired Ahsan Habib Khan, Md Alamgir, Rashida Sultana, and Anisur Rahman from a central control room. They reported that voting was disciplined and peaceful. 

Independent mayoral candidate Zayeda Khatun echoed these sentiments, commenting on the orderly conduct and lawfulness of the process.

Dhaka Tribune

To ensure peaceful elections, a robust security detail was deployed. This included 57 executive magistrates stationed across the 57 wards and an active presence of various law enforcement agencies, such as the police, Ansar and village police, the Armed Police Battalion (APBn), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). 

To bolster security further, 30 RAB teams, 13 BGB platoons, 19 striking teams, and 57 mobile police teams were also deployed in the GCC area.

As voting concluded at 4pm, Election Commissioner Md Alamgir noted an increase in voter turnout and confirmed that polling proceeded peacefully. 

With the day of voting successfully completed, the focus now shifts to the counting process and the eagerly awaited declaration of results.