Sirajganj by-polls going on peacefully

Voting at Sirajganj-1 (Kazipur and part of Sirajganj Sadar upazila) constituency is going on peacefully today.

Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) are being used in the by-polls, which started at 8:00am and will continue till 4:00pm without any break, our Pabna correspondent reports.

"This is a new technology for us. Although we had never used Electronic Voting Machine, we didn't face any difficulties because we received training on it earlier," said Shahidul Haque, a voter of Bilgojaria Government Primary School centre in Kazipur upazila.

"Although we are using EVM, we managed to cast vote within a minute," said Rokeya Khatun, another voter of Bilgojaria.

Presiding officer of the centre, Md Alamin Sarkar, told journalists that the turnout of voters was very low when the voting started.

But the number of voters is increasing as the day progresses, he said.

"There are over 1,600 voters in Bilgojaria centre. Of them, 12 percent votes were cast till 10:30am," said Alamin.

Sirajganj-1 fell vacant following the death of Awami League MP Mohammad Nasim.

AL candidate Tanvir Shakil Joy and BNP-nominated Selim Reza are contesting in Sirajganj-1 by polls. The total number of voters in this constituency is 345,603. There are 168 voting centres in this constituency.