The country witnessed 40% voter turnout on average in the 12th parliamentary election on Sunday (January 7), which marks the lowest turnout since the 5th national election in 1991 when 55.45% voters cast their votes, though significantly higher than the record low of 26.74% in the controversial national election in February 1996.

In a post-election press briefing on Sunday, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal informed that voting turnout was roughly 40 %, which was 27.15% until 3pm, an hour before polls closed.

In 2018, voter turnout was more than 80% in the 11th parliamentary election as voting was held in 299 seats.

In 2014, the voting turnout was 40.04 % in the 10th parliamentary election as voting was held in 147 seats and candidates were elected unopposed in the rest of the seats.

In 2008, voting turnout was 87.13% in the 9th parliamentary election as the election held on 299 seats.

In 2001, voting turnout was 75.59% in the 8th parliamentary election. In 1996, voting turnout was 74.96% in the 7th parliamentary election.

With the opposition’s boycott, the Awami League was likely to get a landslide victory to form the government again, a five-year extension of the 15-year rule until 2029.

The BNP and its like-minded parties, who boycotted the polls as their demand for installing a caretaker government to oversee the election went unmet, enforced a 48-hour nationwide hartal from 6am on Saturday in their last-ditch effort to keep away voters from going to polling stations.

The absence of BNP in the election leaves the stage open for a duel between AL and independent candidates with the ruling party contestants poised to win easily in most of the seats.

BDST: 0824 HRS, JAN 08, 2024
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