The use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the upcoming Rangpur-3 by-polls has drawn mixed reactions from the voters of that constituency.
Prior to the by-polls on Saturday (Oct 5), the Election Commission arranged for mock votes to be held in the 175 polling centres of deceased military dictator HM Ershad’s vacant seat.
Haridevpur Union voter Shahdat Hossain said that EVMs have been used before but there’s a fear that some machines don’t work properly.
The voters of Rangpur-3 aren’t completely new to EVMs as they were used in there in the Dec 30 national polls.
However, some voters still have reservations regarding the digital vote collecting methods.
Another voter Rezaul Karim who turned up for the mock votes says that he has never voted using EVMs.
“After the mock votes it seems like an easy and fast process. It’s still a machine and hence some discomfort remains,” he told Bangla Tribune.
Meanwhile, Awami League’s Rangpur district unit treasurer Abul Kashem said that since people are used to casting their franchises manually, they are having a hard time getting used to the digital process.
Both the BNP and Jatiya Party’s rebel candidates have also expressed their concerns over the digital vote casting.
“We wrote to the Election Commission regarding our reservations about EVMs. But it’s still being used as per the government’s orders. Hence we’ll be careful,” BNP candidate Rita Rahman told Bangla Tribune.
Jatiya Party rebel candidate and Ershad’s nephew HM Asif Shahriar said that there is distrust amongst people regarding the digital vote casting.
“Over the few elections people have developed a trust on the Election Commission and hence they are agreed on EVMs. If the polls are held fairly that would boost people’s confidence on the EC and EVMs,” he said.
The Rangpur-3 constituency, a Jatiya Party stronghold fell vacant after the demise of the party chief HM Ershad. His son Rahgir Al Mahi (Saad Ershad) is contesting the by-polls as the JP candidate.