<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said that the voter turnout in the second phase of upazila elections on Tuesday was estimated to be above 30 percent.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>He revealed the figure while talking to reporters at Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital’s Agargaon in the afternoon.</div><div><br></div><div>The CEC said the election was held in a fair and peaceful manner. Where there has been an attempt to rig the vote, the EC has taken action immediately. A total of 25 people have been arrested and 10 were sentenced to various terms instantly.</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;Awal said the exact figure of vote cast would be known Wednesday.</div><div><br></div><div>He said there no major violence was reported except a few separate incidents where several people were injured.</div><div><br></div><div>When asked about low voter turnout, CEC said that he never considered 30 per cent voter turnout as significant.</div><div><br></div><div>According to CEC’s observation the main factor behind low voter turnout is the boycott of the polls by a large opposition political party which distributed leaflets to discourage people from going to the polling centres. It can happen in a democratic political system, he said adding there are may be pros and cons.</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;Awal said there is no crisis in “our voting system but it exists in our politics.”&nbsp; “I think if our politics returns to right track then the crisis regarding voter presence will be solved.”</div><div><br></div><div>Starting at 8:00 am the voting continued till 4:00 pm without any break. Balloting was held in 156 upazilas of the country.&nbsp; In the second phase of the elections the voting centres saw poor turnout of voters. Besides, some stray incidents violence happened in different places across the country.</div><div><br></div><div>EC Secretary Md Jahangir Alam told the media that voter turnout was approximately 17 per cent within the first four hours of the second phase of upazila elections.</div><div><br></div><div>More than 3.52 crore voters&nbsp; 1,79,05,464 males, 1,72,99,047 females and 237 transgender persons - are registered under 13,016 polling stations in the 156 upazilas, according to the factsheet provided by the Election Commission on Sunday.</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd/fas</div>