Clicky
National, Front Page

Joining polls more important than questioning: CEC


Published : 04 Oct 2022 10:44 PM

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said that participatory elections are more important than questioning ballots or EVMs.

He made the remarks while briefing reporters after a meeting with the leaders of the Election Monitoring Forum (EMF) at Nirbachan Bhaban in Agargaon of the capital on Tuesday.

Earlier, a five-member delegation of the EMF led by its Chairman Professor Mohammad Abed Ali attended the meeting with the Election Commissioner.

Calling on all the political parties, CEC said, “We are always asking you (All parties) to join  the elections and participate. You make elections effective by participating in it. So that the election is credible and acceptable to the people."

Meanwhile, earlier informing about the decision to use EVMs in 150 seats, CEC said on Tuesday there is no assurance in this matter yet.

He said, “We have decided to use EVMs in maximum 150 seats. But till now there is no guarantee about this. It will depend if the government approves the project (of purchasing the EVMs).”

"If its financial implications do not seem appropriate in the view of the government, then such projects may not be allowed," he mentioned.

The CEC said, "We have analyzed and tried the EVM to understand it in different ways for a long time. And there has been a lot of discussions and a lot of participation. No one has been able to show that any kind of manipulation is possible through EVM. Now everyone is saying openly that hacking the EVM is not possible. It is a stand-alone machine."