Staff Reporter:
The Election Commission (EC) yesterday conducted a mock exercise on postal ballot counting at the Election Training Institute (ETI) in the capital’s Agargaon held yesterday to test procedures ahead of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election and the referendum.
The exercise, which began at 9:00 am, used around 1,200 postal ballot envelopes to conduct a full trial of receiving and counting votes with five non-political symbols.
ETI Director General Muhammad Hasanuzzaman, Brigadier General (Retd) Dr Salim Ahmed Khan, Brigadier General (Retd) Md Zakir Hossain and officials concerned were present.
EC System Analyst Mamunur Hossain told the objective was to identify any procedural gaps, assess the time required for counting and determine manpower needs for actual elections.
During the process, declaration forms were first verified in the presence of the Returning Officer to en-sure voter confidentiality.
Ballots with invalid declarations were rejected accordingly, he added.
Valid declaration forms, referendum ballots and parliamentary ballot papers were preserved and counted separately.
Officials were also instructed on proper sealing and submission of ballot materials.
The EC said findings from the mock exercise would be reviewed to identify potential challenges and take necessary measures.
