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IT IS deeply disconcerting that the electronic voting technology that the government introduced, defying public opposition and spending a large sum of public money in times of economic crisis, is collecting dust, reaching a state of disrepair because the Election Commission failed to ensure proper maintenance. A number of officials of the Commission acknowledged that of the 150,000 electronic voting machines, 110,000 have already been out of order, and the remaining 40,000 are also in bad shape. The short shelf life of these machines is a result of the hasty and politically motivated planning of the Commission to introduce an electronic voting system in Bangladesh. Immediately before the 11th parliamentary elections in 2018, the KM Nurul Huda-led commission hastily decided to purchase ‘high-quality’ EVMs and started buying them even before the project money was released and without a plan to store and maintain the machines. Since there is no space allocation for their storage and no financial resources to arrange routine maintenance, the machines are slowly dying in the regional offices of the Commission, causing the public exchequer a loss of around Tk 2,000 crore. Such injudicious spending of public money for a project that, according to many, has contributed to the disenfranchisement of the public calls for a credible probe.

From the very beginning, all stakeholders have vehemently opposed the idea of using electronic voting in local government and national elections. The public trust deficit towards the EVMs was not the only issue; there are also reported allegations of corruption in the EVM procurement process. In December 2020, a group of 42 eminent citizens, in a letter to the president, alleged gross misconduct and irregularities in the purchase and use of electronic voting machines. Although their concerns, at the time, were brushed aside as the government termed the allegation as ‘partisan’ and ‘baseless’, the Commission officials now confirm that the EVMs were purchased without a market assessment, and each machine was bought for Tk 235,000, which was higher than the price that other neighbouring countries had paid for. From the EVM project planning to the purchase and maintenance, the public interest was the last thing that the Commission considered. During the 12th national election held on January 7, when the EVM remained the most contentious concern to the extent that some members of the ruling alliance also opposed its use, the Commission was dead set on using the technology but now, suddenly, decided to stop the purchase of the voting machine. Therefore, the public perception that the introduction of electronic voting technology is a ploy to misappropriate public funds and create the scope of irregularities in the national election is not farfetched.

Injudicious spending of public money on a project that has largely contributed to the disenfranchisement of people in the recent past is a matter of serious concern and demands an immediate probe under an independent commission. The members of the Election Commission must extend their support to ensure a judicious probe.





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