The vote counting in 19 centres out of 21 in the Jahangirnagar University Central Students' Union (JUCSU) elections have been completed, and the final results of the polls will be published on Saturday evening, September 13.
"The ballot counting is still underway in Jatiya Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall and Bishwakabi Rabindranath Tagore Hall. It takes a lot of time as the counting is being done manually," Prof Lutful Elahi, a member of the election commission for the JUCSU elections, said around 12:00 noon.
The election officials are relentlessly trying to complete the counting quickly, he said.
Earlier today, Prof Moniruzzaman, the chief election commissioner for the polls, the final results would be published at about 7:00pm.
The voting began at 9:00am on Thursday, September 11, and was scheduled to end at 5:00pm on the day. In some centers, voting had ended later than scheduled.
A total of 11,743 students were eligible to cast their votes in the election, with turnout reaching around 67-68 per cent.
A total of eight full and partial panels contested this year’s JUCSU elections, though several later pulled out of the race.
The panels that boycotted the polls include Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Sampritir Oikya, Swatantra Angikar Parishad, Songshoptak Parishad, and candidates from the Socialist Student Front. Some independent candidates also withdrew from the election.
Among those who stayed in the race were the Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed “Samannito Shikkharthi Jot, the Shikkharti Oikya Forum backed by Ganatantrik Chhatra Sansad, and the independent Satantra Shikkharti Sammilon led by former coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, Abdur Rasid Zitu.
This year, 177 candidates contested 25 posts in the central union elections. Nine candidates vied for the position of vice president (VP), while eight competed for the general secretary (GS) post.
With inputs from UNB.