If there is a political compromise, all votes will be cast in the ballot, said Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal. He also said that the crisis that has arisen in the political arena is not about EVMs. This crisis is of a deeper nature.
The CEC made these remarks in response to questions from journalists at his office in Agargaon in the capital on Wednesday (September 7) afternoon.
At that time, the Chief Election Commissioner said, Dr. Zafar Iqbal said - EVM is not a very complex machine. He is saying that it is a weak machine. Whether the machine is weak or strong, it is not my concern. Whether the machine is working or not, that is the real issue.
He also said that thousands of EVMs have been used in many elections over the years. He said that there has been no incident of the machine giving incorrect information anywhere.
Earlier, 39 prominent citizens on Tuesday submitted a written request not to use EVMs in the national elections. They termed the EC's decision to use EVMs in a maximum of 150 seats as unreasonable.
Their statement said that without political consensus, the Election Commission has decided to use EVMs to vote in a maximum of 150 seats in the next national parliamentary elections.
In response, the CEC said today, the crises we are seeing in the political arena are not about EVMs, but a broader crisis. We hope, we pray, that these crises will be resolved. If they are resolved and resolved through political compromise, all votes will be on the ballot, 100% through compromise, what is the difficulty? Then we will decide, when all parties are coming to the elections, then that is a good initiative.
Regarding EVMs, the CEC said, "What is important for us is not whether we voted on EVMs or not; it is whether the election is fair, free, and smooth. Whether it is on EVMs or ballots, that is the important thing. So, there is no major crisis there, you know that; if that crisis is resolved, the election will go smoothly."
