Dhaka University (DU) Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Niaz Ahmad Khan on Sunday addressed allegations surrounding the printing of Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election ballots at Nilkhet.
He claimed the university administration had not been informed in advance about the printing by an associate vendor.
Speaking at a press conference held at the Abdul Matin Chowdhury Virtual Classroom of the university’s administrative building, Prof Khan responded to questions about alleged irregularities in the September 9 DUCSU and hall union elections, including ballot paper security.
In a written statement, he said the university had followed due procedures by awarding the ballot printing contract to an experienced company through competitive bidding. However, given the record number of voters and candidates, an associate vendor was later involved under the same tender to meet the tight deadline.
According to the VC, the associate vendor printed 88,000 ballots using 22 reams of paper at Nilkhet. After printing, cutting, and pre-scanning, 86,243 ballots were sealed into packets and delivered to the university, while surplus ballots were destroyed according to procedure. He said the vendor admitted failing to notify DU in advance due to work pressure but claimed maximum security had been maintained during production and transport.
Prof Khan stressed that the location of printing did not compromise election integrity. “Ballot papers undergo several steps before they can be used for voting — cutting to specific dimensions, applying security codes, pre-scanning with OMR machines, and sealing with the signatures of returning officers. Only after these steps are ballots valid for polling,” he said.
He also provided detailed figures: a total of 239,244 ballots were prepared for the election (six per voter for 39,874 registered voters). Of these, 178,926 ballots were used by 29,821 voters, leaving 60,318 unused ballots.
Responding to students’ demands for transparency, the VC said any candidate may request to view CCTV footage of specific incidents or times by applying through the proper channels, in the presence of designated experts. Likewise, viewing voter signature lists may be permitted under legal advice if candidates submit specific, justified requests.
Prof Khan reiterated that the election process was conducted with “utmost caution” and within established rules to ensure fairness.
