Campaigning for the polls to the Rajshahi, Sylhet and Barishal city corporations formally ended on Saturday midnight with the Election Commission vowing for a free and fair voting on Monday.
Ballot papers have sent to the cities on Thursday, election officials said. The ballots and polling equipment will be distributed on Sunday.
A public holiday has been declared for the voting areas to ensure smooth balloting. Garments and other industries will be closed on Monday in the three cities.
“Outsiders who are not voters of the three city corporations were asked to leave the election areas by Friday midnight and the election campaigns will end from Saturday midnight,” Election Commission (EC) Joint Secretary Farhad Ahmmad Khan told BSS.
Election observers believe the polls on Jul 30, with mayoral candidates from major political parties will provide a glimpse of the political environment for the next general election.
The Election Commission will deploy 35 observers – all of them EC officials – during the elections. The observers have been appointed from among senior EC officials, district, upazila, and regional election officials.
Twelve observers each will be in Rajshahi and Barisal and 11 will be deployed in Sylhet. They will start working from July 28 in plainclothes and file reports to the EC within 24 hours of the polls.
There will be 609 observers in the three cities. Among them, 592 are from 15 local agencies and 17 are from three foreign agencies including the US embassy.
In Rajshahi, there will be 192 local and seven foreign observers. In Barisal, 203 local and three foreign observers will see the situation for themselves. 197 local, and seven foreign observers will observe the Sylhet polls.
Security
To maintain law and order during the elections, 22 members of police, Ansar and VDP will be deployed at each centre while the number will 24 for the centres deemed risky.
A total of 87 platoons of the Rapid Action Battalion have been deployed — 30 each for Rajshahi and Barisal while 27 in Sylhet.
Forty-four platoons of BGB troopers have been deployed— 15 each for Rajshahi and Barishal while another 14 for Sylhet.
An additional four platoons in each of the cities have been kept as reserved forces
Mobile and strike forces, comprised of police, Armed Police Battalion, and Ansar will be deployed in each city. Thirty platoons of mobile force and 10 platoons of striking force each will be in Rajshahi and Barisal. In Sylhet, 27 platoons of mobile force and 10 platoons of striking force will be on duty.
Executives and judicial magistrates will also be on duty during the polls.
Over 8,500 electoral officials
The EC has appointed 8,601 election officers to conduct the polls. Among them, 395 are presiding officers, 2,702 assistant presiding officers and 5,404 polling officers.
In Rajshahi, 138 presiding, 1,026 assistant presiding and 2,052 polling officers will conduct the election. In Barisal, 123 presiding, 750 assistant presiding and 1,500 polling officers will be on duty.
In Sylhet, 134 presiding, 926 assistant presiding and 1,852 polling officer have been deployed.
15 EVMs to be used
The Election Commission has decided to use 15 electronic voting machines (EVMS) in the three cities.
Two EVMs each will be used in Rajshahi and Shylhet. In Barisal, 11 EVMs will be in use during the polls.
Earlier, the EC used an EVM in the Rangpur election, two in Khulna, and six in Gazipur elections.
City corporation polls at a glance
Rajshahi
Number of voters: 318,138
Mayoral candidates:
AHM Khairuzzaman Liton (Awami League); Mohammad Mosaddeq Hossain Bulbul (BNP); Md Shafiqul Islam (Islami Andolan Bangladesh); Md Murad Morshed (Independent)
Barishal
Number of voters: 242,666
Mayoral candidates:
Serniyabat Sadek Abdullha (Awami League), Md Majibur Rahman Sarwar (BNP), candidate Obaidur Rahman (Islami Andolan), Abul Kalam Azad (Communist Party of Bangladesh), Manisha Chakrabarty (Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal) and Md Iqbal Hossain (Jatiya Party)
Sylhet
Number of voters: 321,732
Mayoral candidates:
Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran (Awami League), Ariful Haque Chowdhury (BNP), Md Moazzem Hossain Khan (Islami Andolan Bangladesh Md Abu Jafar (Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal) and independent candidates Ahasan Mahbub Jobayer, Md Ahasanul Haque Taher and Md Badruzzaman Selim.
