A polling station has been set up at Shapla Sangha premises in Ward 8 of Chatmohar Municipality in Pabna for a long time. There are no schools, colleges or institutions in the area that can be used as polling stations. So the authorities have been making this arrangement by pitching a tent in front of the club house. This is causing inconvenience to the election officials, on the other hand, creating a traffic jam as men and women voters line up on the streets.
In the first phase, the election of Chatmohar municipality of Pabna was held on Sunday. Voting took place in EVM. Voting started at 8 am in 9 polling stations of Chatmohar municipality and continued till 4 pm.
Presiding Officer of Shapla Sangha polling station Chatmohar Upazila Secondary Education Officer Magreb Ali told Samakal that two booths for men and two booths for women have been set up in front of Shapla Sangha with cloth partitions. 8 election officials including 5 policemen and 10 Ansars are working in this center. There is no end to their problems. There is no place to keep EVM machine at night. In the severe winter, 10 Ansar members stayed up all night guarding the election EVM machine.
He added that there are 970 voters in 4 booths in this center. They have no place to stand. Electoral officials and security forces have no security. How is such a place used as a polling station?
Chatmohar Upazila Election Officer and Returning Officer Alamgir Hossain told Samakal that a tent has been set up here as there is not much space in the area. People have been voting like this for 19/20 years.
Pabna district senior election officer. Mahbubur Rahman said he did not know about the matter. It will be considered in the future.
