CUCSU polls: Counting underway, results on Thursday

The vote counting in the long-awaited Chittagong University Central Students’ Union (CUCSU) elections began on Wednesday afternoon, October 15, after voting ended amid a peaceful environment.

Official results are expected to be announced on Thursday, according to election officials.

Balloting of CUCSU began at 9:00am and continued till 4:00pm today.

Apart from a few sporadic incidents, the voting process was conducted peacefully, said Professor Saidur Rahman Chowdhury, a member of the Election Commission to the polls and Head of the IT Cell.

It may take seven to eight hours to complete vote counting and the formal announcement of results will be made on Thursday, he said.

The university authorities had taken extensive security measures throughout the day to ensure a fair and smooth election process.

Professor Dr Kamal Uddin, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Administration) of the university, said “There will be no unnecessary delay in vote counting. Each presiding officer has a photo-based voter list to verify identities, leaving no room for fraudulent voting. We have not received any formal complaints since yesterday.”

Voting took place in five faculties with 15 centres designated for 15 residential halls.

A total of 689 booths were set up across 60 rooms to facilitate the voting process.

The entire process is being displayed live on 14 LED screens across the campus.

Ballots were cast on paper but the counting is being carried out using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) machines for accuracy and efficiency.

According to the Election Commission, a total of 908 candidates are contesting in this year’s CUCSU elections — 415 for central positions, representing 13 panels and independent candidates, and 493 for hall and hostel councils.

Source: UNB