Next JS polls with ballots if political parties agree: CEC

Voting in the next Jatiya Sangsad (JS) election will be done through ballot if the political parties come to an agreement, said Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal.

"The Election Commission (EC) is willing to conduct the voting by ballot if the political parties come to an agreement," CEC Kazi Habibul Awal said while speaking to reporters at the EC Secretariat on Wednesday. 

"Besides, if the government does not allocate budget for EVMs due to financial crisis, then there will be no voting through EVMs," he added.

On August 23 the commission decided to use EVM in 150 seats.  The ruling Awami League welcomed the commission's decision. However, opposition parties opposed it saying that EC decided to use EVM in 150 seats to implement Awami League's agenda.

After taking the decision, the Chief Election Commissioner met the journalists at the commission secretariat. He said that the decision to use EVMs in 150 seats is not influenced by anyone's wishes, but the decision of the commission is its own.

On Sunday (4 September), the EC said that it has decided to use Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in at least 70 constituencies for the upcoming 12th parliamentary elections.  To prevent irregularities and capturing of polling centres, the EC said it also plans to install closed circuit cameras at all the centres.

A group of 39 notable citizens have urged the Election Commission to backtrack on the decision of using EVMs in up to 150 parliamentary seats at the forthcoming national election.

The group – comprising of member of Bangladesh's constitution formulation committee and former minister Barrister Amir-ul Islam, Dhaka University Emeritus Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury, former caretaker government advisors M Hafizuddin Khan and Akbar Ali Khan and Justice Md Abdul Matin, among others – made the call through a press release issued on Tuesday.

Terming the commission's move to use EVMs as absurd, they raised questions about the use of some $450 million in foreign currencies to import the devices in the midst of the ongoing economic crisis.

It noted that the EVM is technically a weak machine. "It does not have the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail system, which means that the results declared by the commission are final and cannot be audited. That is why the chairman of the technical advisory committee formed by the commission, late Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, did not sign the recommendation papers to buy EVMs in 2018."

The civil society said that it believes as biometric-based EVMs cannot identify many voters and the commission empowers presiding officers to unlock the machine in those cases, digital fraud can also be perpetrated there.

"They should come and raise the issue of EVM error in the commission," the CEC said regarding the statement given by prominent citizens about not voting through EVM.

At present, only 13 countries across the globe are currently using the device in their elections.