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Admin, lawmen were at fault

Local observer group finds anomalies in upazila election

Staff Correspondent
The local administration and law enforcers had shown a patently unprofessional attitude in discharging their duties in the upazila parishad elections, observed the Election Working Group.
"Lax in discharging duties, the field level administrative officials and law enforcers in many cases did not act as per the election commission's directives," it claimed.
The Election Working Group (EWG), a platform of 29 civil society organisations, yesterday said this at a press conference at the National Press Club.
Such evil practice of local administration and law enforcers had affected the congenial atmosphere of free and fair election which was shameful for the nation, said EWG steering committee member Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah. At the conference, the EGW disclosed its findings after monitoring 1,004 polling centres in 34 upazilas during the fifth phase of upazila election on Monday.
The voter turnout rate was around 63.7 percent and around 10 percent votes were fake, it claimed.
Besides, vote rigging, violence, intimidating voters, violation of electoral code of conduct and other sorts of irregularities occurred in around half of the observed upazilas, according to EWG's written statement.
It had found that many ballot papers were inside the ballot boxes before voting started in three polling centres of Laximur Sadar upazila.
Polling officers, in Sadar upazilas of Laxrnipur, Satkhira and Tangail, sent back many voters from booths only painting their fingers with irremovable ink and said their votes were already cast.
In Belkuchi upazila of Sirajganj, law enforcers played silent role while a chairman aspirant's supporters forcibly entered the booths and put ballot papers in the ballot boxes after sealing.
In Sreepur upazila of Gazipur, some people forcibly entered the vote counting room and asked the presiding officer to write voting result as per their wish which the officer followed.
The EWG also raised questions about the accuracy of vote counting. Presiding officers in at least 12 percent polling booths in the upazilas did not hang voting result as per law, it claimed.
At least 47 EWG observers faced resistance in observing polls and vote counting process as presiding officers did not allow them.
EWG Director Abdul Alim and other top level officials of the organisations, among others, were present at the function.