In Bangladesh, voting for the 12th National elections came to an end amid a low voter turnout. Although there were sporadic incidents of violence, the elections were largely peaceful.

Chief Election Commissioner of Bangladesh Kazi Habibul Awal said around 40 percent votes were cast in the 12th parliamentary election. He said this while briefing journalists at the EC building in Dhaka around 5:30pm. The polling started at 8:00 am in the morning (Local Time) and came to an end at 4:00 pm. Soon after voting came to an end, counting began at the voting centers across the country.

Meanwhile, The Election Commission today canceled the candidacy of Bangladesh Awami League (AL) nominated candidate for Chittagong-16 constituency Mostafizur Rahman Chowdhury as he threatened law enforcement officials, which is a violation of the electoral code of conduct.

In urban areas voting was slow while in rural areas voter turnout was relatively higher. Meanwhile Eight candidates in different constituencies across Bangladesh have boycotted the 12th national election so far, alleging vote rigging and irregularities.

By: Navalsang Parmar (Dhaka)