Staff Reporter :
During the dialogue with Election Commission (EC), the eminent citizens suggested not to use the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) without the consent of all political parties and the safety of voters, especially women, in order to ensure that elections are free and fair.
Later, when the EC sat with political parties, 36 political parties were against about the use of EVM in the next parliamentary polls.
Earlier on August 23, Ashok Kumar Debnath, Additional Secretary to the EC told the media that the EC had decided that the EVMs would be used in 150 constituencies in the next general election.
Last Sunday EC Commissioner Md Alamgir told the media the EC had decided to use EVMs in at least 70 constituencies in the next parliamentary elections.
Moreover, Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (SHUJAN) has sent a letter to the EC where 39 noted citizens signed requesting not to use EVM in next polls.
In the letter they said without political parties consent, EC had decided by own to use EVM in 150 constituencies in next polls. We think it’s not logical. This decision will help enlarge the political rift and EC will face challenge about its acceptance.
The letter said there are some errors in EVM and technically it is very low standard technology. It has no ‘Voter Verified Paper Audit Tail (VVPAT)’. As a result, the EC’s declaration about result will be considered final and there is no chance to challenge it and recount.
There is also loophole to make digital deception. Biometric based EVM could not able to read the voters finger print. As a result presiding officer can make result as per his will, the letter stated.
Those who signed the letter were: Barrister Amir-ul- Islam, Dr. Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, M. Hafizuddin Khan, Dr. Akbar Ali Khan, retired judge Abdul Matin, Dr. Zafrullah Chowdhury, Dr. M Sakhawat Hossain, Ali Imam Majumdar, Dr. Saleh Uddin Ahmed, Professor Parveen Hasan, Professor Tofail Ahmed, Dr. Shahdin Malik, Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, Dr. Shahidul Alam, Professor Anu Muhammad, Dr. Ahsan Mansoor, Abdul Latif Mondal, Shamsul Huda, Engineer BD Rahmatullah, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Prof. Asif Nazrul, Prof. Rehnuma Ahmed, Lubna Maryam, Prof. Swapan Adnan, Sharmin Murshid, Prof. Firdous Azim, Syed Abu Nasser Bakhtiar Ahmed, Abu Saeed Khan. , Kamal Ahmed, Zakir Hossain, Noor Khan Liton, Shirin Haque, Dr. Badiul Alam Majumdar, Saifur Rahman, Farooq Faisal, Sanjeev Drong, Salma Ali, Dr. M. Niaz Asadullah and Faiz Ahmad Tayyab.
