Secretary of the Election Commission Secretariat Md Alamgir on Monday said the first phase of the municipality polls was held successfully across the country with a voter turnout of 60 per cent.
“The first phase of the municipal elections in 24 municipalities was held today in a peaceful manner. The election has been successful. The turnout of the voters was 60 per cent,” he said while briefing the journalists at the Nirbachan Bhaban in the city’s Agargaon area after the end of voting.
The voting started at 8:00 am simultaneously at 24 municipalities across the country and continued till 4:00 pm without any break, report UNB and BSS.
Referring to media reports and field-level reports, Md Alamgir said the voter turnout was much better and the election was held peacefully in all places.
About the electoral violence in Sitakunda and Panchagarh, the EC secretary said the incident of scuffle took place when police asked the people to keep the road clear for the car movement of the returning officer in Panchagarh, while miscreants tried to snatch EVM monitor in Sitakunda, but failed.
“Then the monitor was replaced,” he added.
"The instruction was already given to file a case against those engaged in the Sitakunda incident," he said.
Although the voter turnout was a bit low in the early hours of the voting, it continued to increase as the day progressed.
This is the first time that the voting was held using electronic voting machine (EVM) in the municipality election.