The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

The National Registration and Database Ordinance 2007 would be promulgated before the start of voter listing work in Dhaka City Corporation on December 1.

“The use of national identity (NID) cards to avail of 22 designated facilities and services would become mandatory with the promulgation of the ordinance,” Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain told reporters at his office Wednesday. “One would not be able to be a voter if s/he does not want to enroll his or her name in the voter list and would not get NID card,” he said when asked what would be done if eligible voters continue to avoid enumerators.

The voter listing work in the Dhaka City Corporation would be a major challenge to the whole project, he said, adding that they have already apprehended some difficulties in completing the job. Advancing school final examinations to November from December is necessary for smooth completion of the DCC voter listing since most of the voter registration centres would be set up in city schools. “Advancing the school final examinations is considered to be a challenge. And enrolling the slum dwellers and floating people (who don’t have any addresses at all) would be other challenges,” Sakhawat said.

To identify the problems, the EC is going to take three test cases on the outskirts of the city (Kamrangir Char, Utar Khan and Dania) before starting the voter listing work in the DCC. “This time, only 1.5 to 2 percent duplication of voters may take place and it would be very encouraging if the percentage remains within 1.5,” Sakhawat said, adding that the number of duplication was only 46 out of 24,000 in Savar municipality that came to the notice during random checking.

The EC has a strong proposal to the government to lift the ban on indoor politics countrywide by December and relax the state of emergency at places where elections would be held, he said, as local body elections are going to be held from January next Sakhawat said they came to know from view-exchange meetings held at the places where voter listing task is going on that people are strongly in favour of the EC proposal of making registration of political parties mandatory and nomination from the grassroots level in addition to having the option for no vote. About the difficulties in voter listing, the Election Commissioner said there are some administrative problems like lack of manpower at the field level.

Besides, he said, the task would have been expedited had the politicians could work formally.