As the voting of Mymensingh City Corporation by-polls started on time at 8am this morning, some women voters reported experiencing issues with the EVM machines. 

“The machine could not recognise my fingerprint. The officials inside said it might be due to me doing my household chores. They asked me to vote using my national identity card [NID],” Shefali, a resident of the city’s Kalibari area, told Samakal.

Like Shefali, several other women voters faced difficulties as the EVMs could not register their fingerprints. The polling officials asked all of them to vote with their NIDs.

“If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have come to vote,” said Laila Begum, a resident of the SK Hospital area, who could not cast her vote due to the fingerprint issue.

Mayoral candidate and former Mayor Ikramul Haque has also expressed concerns over potential dissatisfaction among voters regarding EVMs in the by-polls. 

“I am hearing about voters having issues with EVMs. Many complained that their fingerprints did not match. Voters will not come to the centres if they face such issues,” he told reporters after casting his vote at Premier Ideal School College centre.

Ikramul is contesting in the by-polls with ‘table clock’ symbol.

“I request polling officials to make sure that no one goes back without voting,” he added.

Mymensingh City Corporation was formed in October 2018. The first election was held on 5 May 2019, where Ikramul Haque was elected mayor unopposed as the Awami League (AL) candidate. 

This time, Ikramul finds himself in a contested race as several leaders from his own party throw their hats in the ring.

There are 128 polling stations in Mymensingh City Corporation for 336,496 voters.