The Election Commission is planning to use EVMs at the polling centres in one-third of the country’s 300 constituencies, a move which drew huge criticism from oppositions and independent observers Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka TribuneThe Election Commission sent the EVM procurement project proposal to the Planning Ministry recentlyThe Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday cleared a Tk3,825.34 crore project to procure 1,50,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs). The approval came from the weekly Ecnec meeting held at the NEC Conference Room in Dhaka’s Agargaon, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, reports UNB. The project titled “Procurement, Preservation and Use of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) Aiming at Bringing More Transparency in the Electoral System” will be implemented by June 2023. The Election Commission has already announced that it wants to hold the 11th general election in the last week of December and plans to use 1,50,000 EVMs in 100 constituencies during the vote. The commission had sent the EVM procurement project proposal to the Planning Ministry recently.

Source: Dhaka Tribune September 18, 2018 11:15 UTC