Zila Parishad polls held

Voting has concluded in the country's 57 Zila Parishads. Voting started at 9am on Monday ( 17 October) and continued till 2pm.

Chief Election Commission (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal has expressed satisfaction with the polling environment in the nationwide Zilla Parishad elections. He also said that no untoward incident happened anywhere.

Since morning, voters started arriving at the poll centres. However, voter turnout was lower in the morning; the attendance rate increased as the day progressed.

92 candidates contested for the post of chairman, 1 thousand 485 for the post of member and 603 for the reserved post. The total number of voters was 60 thousand 866.

Polling for Zila Parishad elections in Satkhira was completed in a peaceful atmosphere. 2 people contested for the post of chairman and 25 people for the member post of 7 general wards, 10 people are contested for 3 reserved women's wards. 1061 voters exercised their voting rights in 12 centres in the election.

Security had been beefed up to ensure law and order. Law enforcement forces were ready to deal with any untoward incident. So far no untoward incident has been reported anywhere in the district.

Satkhira Superintendent of Police Kazi Moniruzzaman said that security has been strong in all polling stations.

Voting for Zila Parishad elections was completed peacefully in Brahmanbaria.

Polling started simultaneously in 9 centres from 9am. Voting was done through EVMs in all the centres. No untoward incident has been reported in any centre so far.

Two candidates contested for the post of chairman in the Brahmanbaria district council elections and 43 candidates are contested for the general ward membership and 13 candidates are for the reserved women's ward membership.

The total number of voters of Zila Parishad was1392 people.

Brahmanbaria Additional Superintendent of Police (Administration and Finance) Molla Mohammad Shaheen said that 362 policemen were deployed for the security of polling stations. Besides, RAB members and executive magistrates also were on duty.

Voting in Narayanganj District Parishad elections started at 9 am and will continue till 2pm.

Narayanganj Zila Parishad consists of a total of 8 posts including 1 chairman, 5 general members and 2 reserved women members. In the election, a total of 3 people, including the senior vice president of the district Awami League Chandan Sheel and 2 general members, have been elected unopposed in the election. 19 candidates contested the remaining 5 posts.

There were 610 voters in this election who are the representatives of City Corporation, Upazila Parishad, Municipality and Union Parishad. 10 polling booths were set up in 5 polling centers of the district. Voting was done through EVM in these centres. 

Mymensingh Zila Parishad elections were held in a festive mood. To ensure smooth voting, apart from law enforcement agencies, candidates were also present at the centres. 

Every center had CC camera. Polling continued from 9am to 2pm in 13 centres of the district.

District Election Officer Golam Sarwar said that meetings have been held with the candidates to make the elections fair. EVMs have been sent to centers. 

Superintendent of Police Machum Ahmed Bhuya said that in each centre there were three policemen, four Ansar members, a magistrate and a mobile team along with the striking force.

Apart from the four chairman candidates, a total of 37 members in 13 general seats and 17 candidates in 5 reserved seats contested in the Mymensingh Zila Parishad elections. There are a total of 2 thousand 89 voters in one city corporation, ten municipalities and 351 unions in the district. Among them, 491 women voters.

Polls were peaceful in Cox's Bazar. 

Cox's Bazar Zila Parishad Election Returning Officer and Cox's Bazar District Administrator Md Mamunur Rashid said that voting started in 9 centers from 9am.

Voters casted their votes in an overall peaceful environment. Each center was under CCTV control, he added. 

The Election Commission (EC) said that 26 chairmen, 18 women members and 65 general members were elected unopposed in the Zila Parishad elections.

Chapainawabganj and Noakhali Zila Parishad elections have been postponed at the direction of the court.

All the candidates in Bhola and Feni districts were elected unopposed. As a result, there will be no election in these two districts.

In this election, there are 448 general wards and 166 reserved wards in 57 districts, involving 462 polling stations and 925 polling booths.

Meanwhile, the EC said that all preparations have been made for the Zila Parishad elections in a fair, free and impartial environment.

CCTV cameras have been installed in each polling station under direct monitoring by the EC.

In a press release signed by EC Joint Secretary (Public Relations) SM Asaduzzaman said that the authorities have been asked to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the upazila headquarters of the respective polling stations in order to keep the CC cameras and EVM machines functioning properly and so that the voters can cast their votes properly.

EC has deployed law enforcement forces in each polling station to ensure law and order. EC has asked to ensure that voters cannot enter polling booths with mobile phones or take pictures. 

The schedule of Zila Parishad elections was announced on 23 August. This schedule was announced for the election of 61 Zila Parishads of the country except the three hill districts.