No money for machines, Bangladesh poll body drops plan to use EVMs in parliamentary elections

Bangladesh used electronic voting machines in six seats in the 11th parliamentary polls; the poll body wanted EVMs in at least 150 of the country’s 300 seats next year.

Bangladesh flag | Representative Image: ANI

New Delhi: Bangladesh will hold elections to all 300 parliamentary seats next January through paper ballots, the country’s poll body announced this week because its demand for money to buy new electronic voting machines and repair old ones was turned down by the government.

Bangladesh election commission (BEC) Secretary Jahangir Alam said voters would use paper ballots and transparent ballot boxes instead.

In the 2018 elections, the poll body had used electronic machines (EVMs) in six seats, but last May Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told a rally that all 300 seats would see electronic voting in the 12^th parliamentary elections, scheduled in January 2024.

Despite widespread opposition to EVMs by many political parties, the country’s Election Commission was resolute that it would operate EVMs in at least 150 seats next January.

It submitted a proposal of Tk 8,711 crore to the government last August to buy two lakh new machines. The Planning Commission, however, sent the proposal back, saying it could not afford new machines “in the current global context”.

The BEC then asked for Tk 1,260 in February to repair the old machines. But this request too was turned down.

Incidentally, 19 of the 39 registered parties in Bangladesh have opposed the use of EVMs. Only three parties – the ruling Awami League, Samyabadi Dal and Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh – were in favour.

On 6 September last year, 39 eminent citizens issued a letter saying the use of the machines “might provoke political debate and erode people’s confidence in the commission”, The Daily Star reported.