JUCSU : Low voter turnout in first two hours

Online Desk  :  Voting is underway for the Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU) and hall union elections. However, in most centers, voter turnout remained low during the first two hours on Thursday, as observed during visits to polling stations. Election officials expect participation to increase as the day progresses. At the Shaheed Rafiq Jabbar Hall center, it was reported that ballot paper signing took some time. Within the first hour, only 13 students out of 650 registered voters had cast their ballots. Returning Officer Mahabubur Rahman Bhuiyan said, “We are still monitoring the situation. We hope voters will come throughout...

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Online Desk  :  Voting is underway for the Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU) and hall union elections. However, in most centers, voter turnout remained low during the first two hours on Thursday, as observed during visits to polling stations. Election officials expect participation to increase as the day progresses. At the Shaheed Rafiq Jabbar Hall center, it was reported that ballot paper signing took some time. Within the first hour, only 13 students out of 650 registered voters had cast their ballots. Returning Officer Mahabubur Rahman Bhuiyan said, “We are still monitoring the situation. We hope voters will come throughout the day.”

At Shaheed Salam-Barkat Hall, 23 votes were cast in the first hour. The hall has a total of 299 voters. Returning Officer S M Moudud Ahmed said that by 9:40 am, only five students had voted, but he expected turnout to rise gradually. Earlier, at 9am, polling began by showing empty ballot boxes in the presence of journalists and candidates. A large number of law enforcement personnel have been deployed on campus to prevent any untoward incidents.

The voting began across across 224 booths in 21 halls, 10 of them for female students and 11 for males. In this election, a total of 11,897 students are eligible to cast their votes. A total of 178 candidates are contesting for 25 posts. The polls are supported by 67 polling officers and 67 assistant polling officers. This marks the 10th JUCSU election in Jahangirnagar’s history and the first in 33 years.