EC clarifies its stance over allegation of less female voters than males

The Election Commission yesterday denied the allegation of having any ill-motive behind the inversion of male to female voter ratio in the updated voter list.

The EC said there are over 9.61 crore voters in Bangladesh. Of them, over 4.84 crore are male and around 4.77 crore are female. It can be estimated

that around 50.39 percent voters are male and 49.61 percent are female. 

In a statement, the commission claimed it is always cautious when preparing an authentic and flawless electoral roll.

The statement came a couple of days after Shushashoner Jannoy Nagorik, a civil society organisation, questioned why there are less female voters than male voters in the updated voter list, while in 2008 female voters far surpassed male voters.

Afterwards, BNP on Monday expressed concern whether the EC was behind the inversion of the ratio of male to female voters. 

Talking to The Daily Star, EC Secretary Sirazul Islam said in many cases, they have noticed that females are less interested in being on the voter list.

Besides, underprivileged females do not want to bother collecting necessary documents like birth certificates, he added.