The Election Commission (EC) conducted a mock voting exercise today, Saturday (29 November), at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Government Girls’ High School in Dhaka to test the feasibility of holding both the 13th General Election and a National Referendum simultaneously. However, the first hour of the trial was marred by significant disorganisation and confusion among participants. The exercise, which began at 8:00 am, aimed to assess the time required for dual voting and identify potential logistical hurdles.
According to observers at the scene, the four designated booths saw a relatively low turnout in the initial hour, with only 23, 37, 27, and 21 votes cast respectively. Many voters reported that while the parliamentary ballot was straightforward, the ‘Yes/No’ format of the referendum ballot was difficult to decipher. A voter named Shafiqul Islam remarked that the font size on the referendum ballot was so small that he could not read the proposals properly, leading him to mark the paper without fully understanding the content. Other voters echoed similar concerns regarding the clarity of the instructions.
An hour into the process, Election Commissioner Abul Fazl Md. Sanaullah visited the polling centre and expressed his dissatisfaction with the lack of coordination among the presiding officers. Disturbed by the chaotic environment, he ordered the officials to halt the existing process and restart by selecting 20 male and 20 female voters for a more controlled and systematic demonstration. His direct intervention eventually brought some semblance of order to the facility.
The referendum ballot includes four specific proposals concerning constitutional amendments, requiring voters to choose between ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ options. Simultaneously, a separate list of candidates and symbols is provided for the mock parliamentary election. EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed noted that it takes approximately one minute per voter to complete the entire process. The findings from today’s exercise will be vital in determining whether the number of polling booths needs to be increased and how to improve voter education for future dual elections.
GLIVE/TSN