Electric Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used in selective centers during the 11th general elections says Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Nurul Huda.
“Some amendments to the Representation of the People Order (RPO) will have to be made in order to use EVMs,” he said while attending a development fair at Sunamganj on Saturday (Oct 6).
“The amendment proposal has been sent to the government,” he added.
The Election Commission (EC) has organized displaying of EVMs in development fairs across the country in an effort to familiarise the people with e-voting.
The EC started using EVMs in local government elections in 2010, but the machines have not been used in parliamentary polls yet.
The election law – the Representation of the People Order or RPO – needs to be changed to use the EVMs in parliamentary polls.
The ruling Awami League favours EVMs, saying these will make the balloting more transparent.
But the BNP has been vocal against the idea of using the machines from the beginning. It suspects the latest EC move is a ploy to rig votes.
The CEC had been saying that they would not use EVMs in general election without the consent of all the political parties, but recently the EC moved to amend the RPO to allow EVMs in parliamentary elections.