The Election Commission (EC) has not given up hope on using electronic voting machines (EVMs) in 150 constituencies in the 12th parliamentary polls.
“The EVM project has not been approved yet. However, the latest status has not been informed to the EC by the Bangladesh Planning Commission,” Election Commissioner Md Alamgir said while talking to reporters at his office at the Election Commission headquarters in Dhaka’s Agargaon on Thursday.
The election commissioner had previously said If the proposed EVM project did not pass by January 15, it would not be possible to use the machine in 150 seats.
He said that the Election Commission is still not sure if it will be able to use EVMs in 150 constituencies as they are not sure how much training it would need.
“We have to buy EVMS, and install the software. Then it needs checking, training, and voters also need to be educated about the machine,” said the election commissioner to the reporters on Thursday.
Talking about the possibility of a discussion on EVM in the next commission meeting, he said that there is no EVM on the cards for the next meeting.
“The topic still may be discussed. The project officer, Election Commission divisional officer, and a technical officer will be present there. After that, we can be sure of how many EVMs will be available and many constituencies will be able to vote through it,” said the election commissioner.
Regarding the project proposal of Tk8,711 crore to purchase 200,000 new EVMs, Md Alamgir said that less than 100,000 EVMs can be approved as well, as the Bangladesh Planning Commission did not inform anything yet.
He added that even if the Planning Commission confirms the number of EVMs by this month, it will still be possible for the Election Commission to give a final say in the matter.
When asked about the Election Commission’s plan for the by-polls in the six constituencies where CCTV cameras will be installed, the election commissioner said CCTV cameras were used before with the money allocated earlier.
“No additional allocation was sought from the government for this,” he added.