Staff Reporter :
The voting in 204 Union Parishads (UPs) will be held on Monday, (June 21) in compliance with the hygiene rules amid the coronavirus pandemic. Besides, the by-elections to the Lakshmipur-2 constituency, the municipality polls in Jhalokati Sadar and Dinajpur’s Setabganj will be held simultaneously.
On the day, the vote casting will continue from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. The Election Commission (EC) has already taken overall preparations. Law enforcement has started patrolling in the polling areas.
There will be no general holiday in the constituency on the polling day. However, election-related institutions, polling stations, election officials will be under general leave. Voters will also be able to take leave from the concerned institution to cast their vote.
According to EC sources, in the first phase, voting was scheduled in 367 UPs of the country. But due to the high contagion of Covid-19, the emergency meeting of the EC on June 10 postponed the voting in 163 UPs of Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar and Noakhali districts and the Khulna divisions of the country.
Meanwhile, polling will be held in 173 UPs of Barishal division, 2 in Narsingdi district, 6 in Gazipur district, 13 in Madaripur, 2 in Sunamganj, 6 in Lakshmipur and one each in Rangpur and Bogura.
In the first phase polls 859 will contest the Chairman Post, 2,154 contesting reserved seats and 6,960 contesting general member seats. 28 chairmen have been elected unopposed.
In this election, there will be 204 members of mobile police, 74 members of striking police, 124 teams of RAB, 123 platoon of BGB and
a total of 5088 forces will be deployed. On the other hand, 393 executive magistrates and 41 judicial magistrates will be in the field. The number of Presiding and Assistant Presiding Officers is 12,207. The number of polling officers is 20,520.
EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) voting will be used at 20 out of 204 UPs. The by-election to the Lakshmipur-2 constituency and the voting in the two municipalities will be held under EVM.
Deputy Secretary of the EC Md. Atiyar Rahman said all preparations have been completed for the election. Additional security has been taken, as voting is taking place amid the Covid-19 pandemic situation. Electoral officials have been instructed to cast votes in compliance with the hygiene rules.
He added that a ban on motorcycles has been imposed in the constituency from midnight on Saturday to mark the election. The ban will last till midnight on Tuesday. Besides, trucks and pickups have been banned in the constituency from midnight on Sunday which will remain in force till 6 am, Tuesday.
