Voting under way in Thakurgaon-1 by-election

Voting has begun in the by-election to the Thakurgaon-1 parliamentary constituency.

Polling started at 8am on Thursday and will continue uninterrupted until 4pm.

Md Kamrul Islam, the returning officer for the by-election and Thakurgaon district election officer, said in the morning that voting was proceeding peacefully.

“Voting is going on peacefully at all 185 polling centres in the constituency. We have not received any complaints from anywhere,” he said.

All necessary measures have been taken to ensure smooth polling, while members of law enforcement agencies and other officials are working to maintain an environment conducive to voting.

Twelve assistant presiding officers were replaced at the last minute between Wednesday night and Thursday morning following complaints and reports of illness. Their replacements were selected from the panel of polling officials.

Five candidates are contesting the by-election: President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s younger brother Mirza Faisal Amin of the BNP with the paddy sheaf symbol, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Md Delwar Hossain with the scales, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan’s Md Abdul Alim Nizami with the banyan tree, Islami Andolan Bangladesh’s Hafez Md Khademul Islam with the hand fan, and Bangladesh Congress’s Hussain Muhammad Omar Faruk with the green coconut.

Officials of the Election Commission’s election management wing said the constituency, comprising Thakurgaon Sadar, Ruhia and Bhulli Upazilas, has 516,140 registered voters.

Of them, 257,468 are men, 258,668 are women and four are transgender voters.

Voting is taking place at 185 polling centres with 989 booths. A total of 3,152 presiding officers, assistant presiding officers and polling officers have been deployed to conduct the election.

Law enforcement personnel have been deployed across the constituency, including members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

Judicial and executive magistrates have also been assigned to enforce the electoral code of conduct, while CCTV cameras have been installed at polling centres to monitor the election.

A total of 21 platoons of BGB personnel, 251 SRB members, 2,272 police personnel and 2,405 Ansar members have been deployed on election duty.

A total of 295 voters applied to cast their ballots by post in the by-election. Of those applications, 289 were approved and six rejected. Twenty-nine applications came from voters living abroad.

Election Commission Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said a monitoring cell has been set up at the Election Commission headquarters to oversee the overall situation surrounding the election.

The cell will monitor conditions at polling centres, the law and order situation and the overall management of the election.

Akhtar said the arrangement was made to keep watch on both security and polling centres, with monitoring being carried out in coordination with the BGB, SRB and police.

Surveillance will include body-worn cameras, body cameras used by the BGB and police, as well as BGB drones.

“With this surveillance system, we will monitor the situation from here minute by minute,” Akhtar said.

“The election will be free and fair. So far, we have found no reason for concern, and, by the grace of Allah, we will not find any.”

The constituency recorded a voter turnout of 76.49 percent in the Feb 12 election.

Turnout is generally lower in by-elections. How many voters ultimately cast their ballots on Thursday will become clear at the end of the day.