Hall union vote counting ends after long delay

One election commission member quits, one polling officer dies

JU CORRESPONDENT | Published: September 12, 2025 23:12:55

Vote counting for Jahangirnagar University hall-union elections ended on Friday evening after long delays, while that for the central students' union began.
Amid the delay, Mohammad Mafruhi Sattar, a pharmacy professor and a member of the Jahangirnagar University Central Students' Union (JUCSU) election commission, resigned.
He announced his resignation at a press conference in front of the New Arts building around 08:45pm.
Earlier in the day, polling officer and fine arts teacher Jannatul Ferdous died while on duty.
Vote counting was suspended for a while after her death, as well as for Friday prayers and lunch.
The ballot-counting delay fuelled frustration among students, with some alleging it was part of an administrative ploy, while others feared the inefficiency and lack of transparency could undermine the credibility of the outcomes.
Chief Election Commissioner Md Moniruzzaman said the commission had initially prepared to use optical mark recognition (OMR) devices to count votes, but later switched to manual counting after several candidates appealed for that, resulting in significant delays.
He said he was hopeful about announcing the results by Friday night but could not give an exact time.
Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan also said results could be published by Friday night, seeking cooperation from students and on-duty officials.
In the evening, students staged a sit-in in front of the Senate Bhaban, demanding the results be published immediately.
Polling was held from 09:00am to 05:00pm on Thursday in a festive atmosphere, with students spontaneously casting their votes. Around 68 per cent of the university's 12,000 students voted.
Due to long queues in several halls, voting continued until 07:30pm.
Ballot boxes were then taken to the Senate Bhaban, where counting began after 10:00pm.
Like students, several polling officers on Friday also expressed dissatisfaction with how the election commission handled the matter.
"Voting was fair, but when counting is delayed, suspicion naturally arises," said one of them, voicing frustration over the commission's "mismanagement".
Meanwhile, independent candidates demanded the use of OMR devices to count the JUCSU votes.
Sultana Akhter, returning officer of the Nawab Faizunnesa Hall, announced she would not proceed with the JUCSU ballot count unless OMR devices were used.
On Thursday, Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) and four other panels boycotted the elections, claiming irregularities and vote rigging.
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