The Election Commission (EC) has no plan for the time being to introduce Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in the next Jatiya Sangsad polls.Information Minister Hasanaul Haque Inu, who is also in-charge of the Election Commission Secretariat in the House, said this today in reply to a scripted query from treasury bench member Momtaz Begum. The information minister said the EC has taken various steps on the occasion of the 10th Jatiya Sangsad polls.
He said the EC has completed the voter list updating activities by incorporating the persons, eligible to be voters till January 2013, in the voter list. Inu said the draft voter list, by delimiting 300 constituencies, has been published according to the Delimitation of Constituencies Ordinance, 1976 as per the census report.
The information minister said the commission has already completed the hearing on claims and objections on the draft list.
He said the EC has taken a work plan initially to complete the elections smoothly. He said the demand for election materials has been determined and tender has been floated to purchase the materials.
Inu said the work on collection of the list of institutions, those will be used as polling centres, is underway.
He said a proposal has already been sent to the government for necessary amendment to the Representation of People Order (RPO), 1972.
Responding to a written question from ruling party lawmaker Fazilatunnesa Bappy, the information minister said a total of 5636 elections were held till May 10, 2013 after assumption of office by the present government.
He said the EC has taken different steps for modernizing the election management.
The steps, he said, include framing a voter list with photographs and biometric features, using transparent ballot box in polling centres, holding local body polls through EVM, updating various laws and rules to make the election process more transparent and acceptable and videoing the activities of different polling centres in limited form.
-With The Independent input
