The Election Commission says it will use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the Upazila elections.
It, however, said will introduce e-voting from the third phase of the elections.
The Upazila elections will be held in five phases. The Commission has so far announced scheduled for the first three phases fixing Mar 10, 18, and 24 for the balloting.
“The first four phases will be held in March. We had plans to use EVMs throughout the entire elections, but a delay in formulating the regulations has led us to start it from the third phase,” EC Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed told the media on Monday (Feb 18).
Responding to a query on the number of Upazilas where EVMs will be used for balloting, he said, “We had already decided that EVMs will be used in centres at the Upazila headquarters.
In the phase-1 of the elections set for Mar 10, a total of 87 Upazilas will go to polls, elections to 129 Upazilas will be held during phase-2 on Mar 18 while in the third phase on Mar 24, polls will be held at 127 Upazilas, according to the schedules announced by the Election Commission.
Voting in the fourth and fifth phase of the polls are likely to be held on Mar 31 and Jul 18.