The first phase of the 5th Upazila Council polls was relatively peaceful, said Election Commission Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed.
His remarks came on Sunday (Mar 10) during a media briefing at the EC headquarters in Agargaon after the Upazila polls ended.
“The election took place in 5,847 centres in 78 Upazilas. Among them voting was halted in 28 centres due to various irregularities,” he said.
He added that with the exception of those centres, voting was relatively peaceful.
“Responding to queries about voter turnout, he said, “We don’t have the information on voter turnout yet. We’ll know the percentage of votes cast after the counting is over.”
“From what we heard, the voter turnout was satisfactory,” he said and added that the polls are usually made competitive with participation from all political parties.
He said that two presiding officers have been arrested over polls irregularity, and quite a few people involved have been put behind bars.