144 upazilas get over 1m new voters

More than 1 million people have been registered as fresh voters in 144 upazilas during the countrywide voter list updating exercise till Wednesday (July 9) that started on May 15. A total of 10,32,397 fresh voters – 5,87,351 male and 4,45,046 female – at a growth of 4.79 per cent were registered during the electoral rolls updating in the 144 upazilas (UZ) that completed on Wednesday. The data was revealed at an Election Commission meeting held at the weekend at the commission secretariat with Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad in the chair. Currently, there are 2,15,48,003 voters in the 144 UZs. Of the new voters, the highest 6.88 per cent voters were registered at Jaintapur of Sylhet, while the lowest 3.32 per cent in Bagerhat Sadar upazila. On May 15, the EC started the 3-phase countrywide updating of the voter list with 181 UZs out of the country’s 514 UZs in the first phase. The work on updating the voter lists in the remaining 37 upazilas of the first phase will complete on July 15, according to a news agency.