Voter turnout 34pc in 4th phase of UP polls

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal has expressed his satisfaction over the polling in the fourth phase of the Upazila Parishad elections, reports bdnews24.com.

"We are very happy that the election was peaceful. There was no violence, no major incident. That's satisfying in a way," he told reporters at his office in Dhaka's Agargaon after the voting ended on Wednesday.

Initially, Awal reported a voter turnout of 34 per cent in the fourth phase.

It was 36 per cent in the first phase, 38 percent in the second phase, and 36 per cent in the third phase. This marks the lowest voter turnout in the Upazila polls in the last 15 years.

When asked about the low voter turnout, Awal said, "We cannot analyse this political judgment now. Others [election experts] will analyse the turnout."

Voting opened at 7,500 polling centres in 60 Upazilas at 8am on Wednesday and continued until 4pm without a break.

Six Upazilas voted through EVMs in this phase, while the rest used traditional paper ballots.

Of the 495 Upazilas in the country, 450 are going to the polls in the Sixth Upazila Parishad Election. The remaining Upazilas will hold elections once the terms of their Upazila councils end.