Polls at 57 Zila Parishads end peacefully

Elections at 57 Zila Parishads ended peacefully by using electronic voting machines (EVMs) Monday noon.

The voting began at 9:00 am and continued till 2 pm without any break under the supervision of the deputy commissioners who are acting as the returning officers, according to the Election Commission.

Voting in the Zila Parishads was held at 925 booths in 462 centres across the country.

Khulna correspondent reports, the elections were held peacefully in 10 polling centres in nine upazilas. Only 55 voters among 978 ones cast their votes here.

In Cumilla, voting started at 9 am in 12 wards and five reserved wards.

In Chattogram, voting was held in 15 upazilas in the district.

Elected representatives of other local government bodies such as Union Parishads, municipalities and Upazila Parishads cast their votes in the election.

Law enforcers were deployed at every polling centre to ensure orderly and peaceful polling. Along with this, several platoons of BGB, Coast Guard and RAB members served as mobile and striking force in the polling area.

The Election Commission monitored the polls through CCTV cameras from a monitoring cell set up in its headquarters in Dhaka.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said on Sunday that CCTV cameras will be used in every centre in the Zila Parishad elections just like the recently held Gaibandha-5 elections.

The EC suspended the election to the Gaibandha-5 parliamentary seat for “widespread malpractices” recorded in the CCTV cameras.