Computerised voters list of Bangladesh is ready: UN

by Sanjay Jha | December 25, 2008 at 12:39 am

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Bangladeshis are eagerly awaiting the long-delayed general elections to bring back their South Asian country to democratic rule after two years of political wrangling under army control.

Bangladeshis will go to polls on December 29 to elect a new parliament to end two years of emergency rule and transfer power from the military-backed regime to an elected government. For the first time a computerised voters list with the photographs has been prepared with the help from the United Nations.

The list took 11 months to compile and an audit by the Washington-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) has certified that it has been compiled with a "high degree of accuracy" and no "ghost" voters were found.

"An independent audit of the list by IFES has concluded that the list was compiled with a 'high degree of accuracy', and no 'ghost voters' were found," the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said in a statement yesterday.

"We are pleased that the current voter list has passed the scrutiny of an independent team of auditors because a credible voter list is an essential ingredient for all free and fair elections," UN Resident Coordinator Renata Dessallien said, adding the upcoming election represents an historic opportunity for Bangladesh in re-establishing democracy.

The new roll was designed by the Bangladesh Election Commission, with support from the Bangladesh Army and financial assistance from UNDP, Denmark, the European Commission, South Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Britain.

UNDP also provided technical and logistical support for preparation of the roll, for which over 10,000 laptops, digital cameras and finger print scanners were used, all aimed at creating a fraud-proof voter roll.