Polls result cannot be manipulated in EVM system: EC

Election Commission (EC) today clarified that it is not possible to manipulate the election result in Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) system at the last stage or moment.

The EC said in a statement issued regarding the alleged result dispute of Cumilla City Corporation (CuCC) election.

In the statement signed by Joint Secretary (Public Relations) of the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat SM Asaduzzaman, it is mentioned that a person on behalf of Monirul Haque Sakku, who lost the CuCC election by only 343 votes on June 15, gave a statement through telephone call that the results had been manipulated before announcing the results in the final stage.

As a result, it created confusions in the minds of the people but it is not possible to change the results contained in the EVM at the last stage of publishing the results.

The Returning Officer was obstructed to publish the final result smoothly as violence and instable situation were created between the supporters of the two main rival candidates.

Later, the final result was released unofficially with more or less 15-20 minutes delay when the situation became normal due to the swift intervention of the law enforcement agencies.

Some newspaper articles and speakers on social media had tried to point out this delay as one or one and a half hours delay indicating it as mystery or unusual incident.

But, the delay of more or less 15 to 20 minutes was occurred due to the aforesaid reasons, said in the statement.

For the first time, CCTV was used in every center to make the election smooth and transparent.

In order to make the election more neutral, the election officials working in the City Corporation area were not given the responsibility of conducting the election.

The responsibilities were given to the officials from outside, said in the statement.

Election observers and media personnel have been given free rein to capture and disseminate information.

The election was held in a peaceful atmosphere and no report of violence was found.

Voter turnout and participation was satisfactory, the statement said, adding that 59 percent turnout has been criticized by someone in the media describing it as low turnover.

The EC reiterated in the statement that it is not possible for anyone to vote twice or cast vote on behalf of anyone in the EVM system, reports BSS.