SANS Correspondent, DHAKA: Dispelling doubts, Election Commissioner Brigadier-General (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain said there is no alternative to Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) for holding disturbance-free elections.
“The system is very effective in averting disturbance, including violence, during and post-voting period,” he told SANS in a recent interview.
The ex-army officer said the election commission would focus the advantages of the EVM system before the political parties during consultation in May.
Main opposition BNP recently expressed doubts about government motives behind its plan for introducing e-voting system.
Citing experience of the ongoing union parishad polls and municipal elections of January he said the troubles were very little in those elections.
“But there were attempts of snatching ballot box during vote count. EVM is the only system to hold disturbance-free polls,” he emphatically said.
The election commissioner also observed that the scope for casting fake vote or vote rigging would be stopped after introducing the system.
He said the presiding officer would control the main switch of EVM. Nobody could vote until the switch comes to the neutral point after one casts his/her vote once.
“Nobody can cast vote again and again at their sweet will. Besides, nobody can see the results until the vote ends,” he added.
Referring to the use of EVM for voting in a ward in Chittagong City Corporation as a pilot project he said results could be announced within an hour after voting.
The Election Commission collected over 400 EVMs in October last year spending over Tk 1.17 crore.
“But, in the next parliamentary election, a total of 200,000 EVMs would be needed. The EC is trying to get the machine made with the help of Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory,” he said.
BDST: 1857 HRS, APR 16, 2011
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