INFLUENCE OF ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINE

IN VOTING CULTURE OF BANGLADESH

A Thesis submitted for the award of BSS degree

By
Maruf Hasan Rumi
Roll: BE-042-032

Department of Public Administration

UNIVERSITY OF DHAKA, BANGLADESH
December 22, 2018

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 Declaration

I am Maruf Hasan Rumi, a student of Bachelor of Social Sciences (BSS), Department of Public
Administration in the Faculty of Social Sciences of University of Dhaka. I solemnly declare that
the work presented in this research report has been carried out by me under the supervision of Dr
Momtaj Jahan, Professor, Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences,
University of Dhaka.

This report is about “Influence of Electronic Voting Machine in Voting Culture of

Bangladesh” has only been prepared for the fulfillment of the course Qualitative Research
Methodology. The work I have presented does not breach any existing copyright and this report
is not copied from any work done earlier for a degree of otherwise.

I further undertake to indemnify the department against any loss or damage arising from breach
of the foregoing obligations.

______________________

Maruf Hasan Rumi

Roll: BE-042-032
6th Semester, 3rd Year
Department of Public Administration
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Dhaka

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 Certificate of Acceptance

This is to certify that Maruf Hasan Rumi, BE-042-032, 10th Batch, Department of Public
Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Dhaka, has successfully completed the
report on “Influence of Electronic Voting Machine in Voting Culture of Bangladesh”. In this
regard he practically visited the study area, read many reports to acquire knowledge and worked
hard under my supervision and instruction.

This paper supports the topic title and fulfills the entire requirements. I have gone through the
whole report and found it to be a well-written paper. He has completed the paper by himself.

During the program he was sincere, proactive and attentive to his work and I wish him every
success in life.

_________________________

Dr Momtaj Jahan
Professor
Department of Public Administration
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Dhaka

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 Acknowledgement

The successful completion of this report is the outcome of contribution of a number of people to
whom I am grateful and thank them from the very deep of my heart. So I would like to take this
opportunity to thank all those people who helped me in preparing this research report on
“Influence of Electronic Voting Machine in Voting Culture of Bangladesh”

First and foremost, let me sincerely thank Almighty for the great opportunity and blessings that
he has showered upon me for the successful and timely completion of this paper. I extent my
sincere gratitude and very gratefully wish to forward due respect and thanks to my internal
faculty guide of Dr Momtaj Jahan, Professor, Department of Public Administration,
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Dhaka for the continuous, creative, valuable and
informative support that he extended to me, without which the project would not have been
efficiently completed.

I thank my parents and all other family members for their valuable and inseparable support in
completion of this study. Once again I take this opportunity to convey my sincere thanks to each
and every person who helped me directly and indirectly in the successful completion of thesis
report.

In fine, no words can fully express my respect and reverence for the persons who any how
helped me in completion of this report.

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Table of Contents
Declaration......................................................................................................................................ii
Certificate of Acceptance...............................................................................................................iii
Acknowledgement..........................................................................................................................iv
List of Tables.................................................................................................................................vii
List of Graphs................................................................................................................................vii
Acronyms.....................................................................................................................................viii
Abstract...........................................................................................................................................ix
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Background of the Problem...................................................................................................1
1.2 Statement of the Problem.......................................................................................................1
1.3 Review of Literature..............................................................................................................2
1.4 Objectives of the Study..........................................................................................................4
1.5 Definitions of the Concepts...................................................................................................4
1.6 Model.....................................................................................................................................5
1.7 Scope of the Present Study....................................................................................................6
1.8 Rational of the Study.............................................................................................................7
1.9 Organization of the Study......................................................................................................7
2. Body of the Report.......................................................................................................................8
2.1 Research Design....................................................................................................................8
2.2 Sources of data.......................................................................................................................8
 Primary Sources:...............................................................................................................8
 Secondary Sources............................................................................................................8
2.3 Study Area.............................................................................................................................8
2.4 Study Period...........................................................................................................................9
2.5 Study population....................................................................................................................9
2.6 Sampling................................................................................................................................9
 Sampling Technique.........................................................................................................9
 Sampling Size...................................................................................................................9

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 2.7 Data collection instruments.................................................................................................10
 Interview Method............................................................................................................10
 Content Analysis.............................................................................................................10
2.8 Field Procedure....................................................................................................................10
2.9 Data Processing and Analysis Process................................................................................11
2.10 Limitations of the study...............................................................................................11
3. Results: Findings and Discussion..........................................................................................12
4.Summary and Conclusions.........................................................................................................14
5.Recommendations.......................................................................................................................15
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................16
Appendix........................................................................................................................................17

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vii
 List of Tables
2.6.1 List of the samples………………………………………………………......10

List of Graphs
1.6 Diagram of the key determinates in the voting culture……………………......06
3.1 Diagram of review on EVM among respondents…………………...................13

Acronyms

ADB- Asian Development Bank

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AL- Awami League

BNP- Bangladesh Nationalist Party

CCC- Chittagong City Corporation

CEC- Chief Election Commissioner

DG- Director General

DNCC- Dhaka North City Corporation

EC- Election Commission

EVM- Electronic Voting Mechine

GCC- Gazipur City Corporation

GoB- Government of Bangladesh

MoHA- Ministry of Home Affairs

MP- Member of Parliament

PM- Prime Minister

RAB- Rapid Action Battalion

TIB- Transparency International Bangladesh

UNDP- United Nations Development Program

WB- World bank

Abstract

In modern democracy, voting is one of the important pillars to choose the most competent leader.
There are different systems of voting. In the sub-continent, the political culture is very much
different from the countries of Europe. We see lot of violence and injuries during the election

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time. Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is a simple electronic device used to record votes in
place of ballot papers and boxes which were used earlier in conventional voting system .
According to the vision 2021 of Bangladesh government, government has introduced EVM in
the local election for its feasibility study. It has a great impact on the voting culture in the sub
national and national level. For strengthening democracy, people’s participation in governance
process is mandatory. EVM have a key role in upholding people’s voice in an unbiased manner.
Qualitative approach will be used to describe the relation between the existing voting culture and
EVM. Findings of research will help to establish a more credible and acceptable election system
in a cost efficient and faster way in Bangladesh.

Keyword: Election, EVM, Violence, Voting Culture, People’s representative, Digital

Bangladesh

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 1. Introduction

1.1 Background of the Problem

Conducting a free and fair election is a not an easy task. Different interest group tried to
manipulate the result of the election to retain in the power in an unfair way from the very
beginning of the birth of Bangladesh. Because of faulty political culture and political
assassination, we experienced military regime and extreme autocracy. Peoples’ voice was
undermined in the gun point. Bureaucrats and military officials began to run the state. Many
people lost their lives during the election process which unstable the societal balance and slow
down the economic growth of the country. To avoid this situation, a well-established election
system and stable political condition is needed. The cost of conducting an election is also very
high for a developing country like Bangladesh. Recently as a part of Digital Bangladesh and e-
governance, a new technology is introduced by the Government of Bangladesh named EVM to
conduct the election in an open and transparent way from 2012. EVM was first introduced in
Chittagong City Corporation election. It has an aim to reduce cost and give fast and unbiased
result to stop all kind of violence during vote casting and gain peoples’ trust.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

A free and fair election is major concern of the EC. Different steps are taken to establish a level
playing ground for all the party contesting in the election. The Constitution of Bangladesh gave
some specific power to the EC but still the problem can’t be properly addressed. Lack of trust
among the top political parties is mainly responsible for it. Mutual cooperation and respect
among the political parties are decreasing day by day. To mitigate the situation, AL led
government want to make the election process more transparent and accountable by introducing
EVM in the election process from 2012. It will reduce the chance of rigging the vote and
manipulate the result.

In this study, a relationship was tried to draw between the different variables that affect our
voting culture and usage of EVM. An attempt was made to identify if EVM gain trust among the
voters and reduce the violence during the election time or not.

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1.3 Review of Literature
Research is mainly done to create new knowledge or idea which can bring changes to the
existing order for making the life easier and faster. In social science research, there is an
important role of literature review to give a clear idea how far the forerunners go in the field of
that particular research and the major barriers to conducting that research. In different time on
this issues research has done in different countries. Literature review of this research project is
gives below elaborately-

“Political culture in contemporary Bangladesh: Histories, ruptures and contradictions” By Dina

Mahnaz Siddiqi gave a clear view a broad overview of Bangladeshi politics as it has evolved
since independence. Conventional accounts of the country’s politics tend to take regime histories
as their point of departure. Two questions broadly structured in the analysis to understand
contemporary political culture, in which extreme partisanship, violent confrontation and
unpredictability are the norm, despite the formal trappings of democracy having been in place for
over a decade and to identify socio-economic forces and political dynamics have enabled the
emergence of popular political ideologies that fuse religion with politics.

In “Democratic Culture and Participatory Local Governance in Bangladesh” by Waheduzzaman

& Quamrul Alam we saw the government of Bangladesh has introduced several initiatives
seeking to develop participatory governance at the local level in order to maximize the outcomes
of aid-assisted development projects. Absence of democratic culture, tradition and
disengagement of citizens as well as asymmetric distribution of patronage and weak institutions
are mainly responsible for it. In theory, political elites and bureaucrats in Bangladesh advocate
democracy, accountability and local-level participation, but in practice, they have an affinity for
power and centralized authority. Their reform initiatives seem half-hearted and disjointed
restricting the growth of democratic culture and participatory local governance at the local level
in Bangladesh.

Mohammed Asaduzzaman, AKM Motinur Rahman, Nasrin Jahan Jinia had done a study on “E-
governance Initiatives in Bangladesh: Some Observations” where they observed the possibility
of initiating e-governance services. E-governance promotes people’s participation in the process
of good governance and e-democracy. Using the website, government may seek people’s opinion
on various issues of the state. The very idea of a ‘Digital Bangladesh’ started as part of the

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election manifesto of the present ruling party. After the landslide victory of Awami League-led
great alliance, the Prime Minister declared to transform the country into "Digital Bangladesh by
2021” (Vision, 2021) which targets the establishment of aresourceful and modern country by
2021through effective use of ICT. It has been found that e-governance initiatives and practices in
Bangladesh faced challenges that can be summarizing by three A’s: access, awareness and
applications.

D. Ashok Kumar and T. Ummal Sariba Begum wrote a conference paper on “Electronic voting
machine — A review” which showed us about the internal mechanism of the Machine and how it
can stop vote forging based on Indian context. They suggested that the EVM system has to be
further studied and innovated to reach all level of community, so that the voter confidence will
increase and election officials will make more involvement in purchasing the innovated EVM’s
for conduct smooth, secure, tamper resistant elections.

Mohammad Faisal, Md. Delwar Hossain, Md. Rezaul Basher Bhuiyen worked on proposed
model of Electronic Voting Machine in their article “Design and Implementation of Electronic
Voting System (EVS)”. They found that The Electronic Voting System (EVS) is developed by
considering the problems of ballot-paper voting system & Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).
EVS reduces manual labor effectively. Results can be obtained very quickly i.e., vote casting is
done automatically. Even though there is a single laptop, any corruptions done by either the
pooling officer or the voters can be identified quite easily.

Mohammad Shabbir Hasan, Quazi Farhan and Abdullah Al Mahmood had done a feasibility
study on online voting in their paper “An Exploratory and Feasibility Study of Implementing
Online Based Voting System in Bangladesh”. They think by implementing online based voting
system, there will be no need to stay in the queue for a long time to cast vote, anyone can cast
his/her vote from anywhere through internet. There will be increased voter turnout in election.
The cost for arranging election will be reduced as there isno need to prepare any voting center or
no need to manage huge manpower. Coercion resistant voting system can be introduced. Result
can be published within a very short time as the system automatically tabulate the results and
declare winners.

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M. Mesbahuddi Sarkar, M Nazrul Islam published their study on EVM in their article
“Management of Sustainable, Credible and Integrated Electronic Voting System in Bangladesh.”
They overviewed different articles on EVM and gather examples of EVM using countries. They
tried figure out the pros and cons of different voting method and suggested Electronic voting as
the best method in the context of Bangladesh. They gave some way forward how we can move to
electronic voting system from paper ballot voting system.

These are some major works which are done by different researchers and academicians. But
there are no works on how the use of Electronic Voting Machine can influence the overall voting
culture of Bangladesh. So, in this research I will try to find how EVM is putting impact on the
voting culture of Bangladesh from the recent election of Gazipur City Corporation.

1.4 Objectives of the Study

The broad objective of the study is to envisage voting culture of Bangladesh, people’s perception
on the usage of EVM in the city corporation elections, strengthen the democracy in the local and
national level of the country. The study will require some specific objective by which broad
objective would be performed. More specific objectives of this study are as follows

 To examine EVM‘s role in reducing violence during election time.

 To identify perception of EC and government officials on EVM
 To assess the impact of EVM in gaining trust of voters and political parties.
 To measure the influence of EVM in our voting culture.

1.5 Definitions of the Concepts

Election- An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses
an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern
representative democracy has operated since the 17th century. For strengthen the democratic
process of a country, free and fair election is very much essential.

EVM- An apparatus for use in polling places that mechanically records and counts votes.
Electronic Voting Machines are being used in Indian General and State Elections to implement
electronic voting in part from 1999 elections. Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) have been
used around 20 countries out of which 6 countries are still piloting it. Pi labs developed this

4
voting machine in joint venture with IICT, BUET which will be used in the election of
Bangladesh from 2012.

People’s representative- A representative is a person who has been chosen to act or make
decisions on behalf of another person or a group of people. A people’s representative is a person
who took part in the governing process of a particular institution on behalf of the people. MPs
are people’s representatives who take part in the legislation process on behalf of the people of his
constituency. He mainly identifies the problems and opportunities of the people of his
constituency and work for its solution.

Voting culture- Voting is the main form of political participation in liberal democratic societies
and the study of voting behavior is a highly specialized sub-field within political science. The
analysis of voting patterns invariably focuses on the determinants of why people vote as they do
and how they arrive at the decisions they make.

Violence- Violence is defined as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or
actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in
or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal development, or
deprivation," although the group acknowledges that the inclusion of "the use of power" in its
definition expands on the conventional understanding of the word.

1.6 Model
Traditional paper-based voting in polling stations satisfies these requirements, follows a
transparent procedure, and is trusted by citizens—at least in democratic countries. In contrast, e-
voting systems are not transparent for the user, as the steps in the processing of the information
cannot be observed. Apart from economic requirements, most requirements for e-voting systems
are trust related. They should be secure (accurate; only legitimate voters participate, and only
once; protected against fraud and mistakes), protect privacy (the voter should remain
anonymous), and be verifiable (a transparent process, possibility of recounting). Public
confidence in the manner in which ballots are counted is fundamental to the legitimacy of the
electoral process.

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Two dominant determinates in the voting culture of Bangladesh are given below-

1. Trust- the higher the trust in the privacy of a voting system is, the larger the probability
will be that someone expresses his minority opinion.
2. Social identity- a positive election environment will create opportunity to express the
self-identity of a person which developed within a person through the regular interaction
with the society.

If EVM can tackle these two strong determinates, then it will have a positive influence in the
voting culture or vice versa.

Trust
Determinates
Social Identity

1.6 Diagram of the key determinates in the voting culture

1.7 Scope of the Present Study

This study basically focused on the impact of EVM in the overall voting culture of Bangladesh.
Different dominant variables in the voting culture were discussed and how they were influenced
by the usage of EVM is the main concern of the study. The scopes of this present study are the
people of GCC area who were influenced by the election as that election was conducted to select
their local leader for fostering development. The result of the research will help all the citizens of
Bangladesh as EVM is going to be introduced in the national election too.

The respondent pool was concentrated to the voters of Rani Bilashmoni Government Boys' High
School center where EVM was used during the election to understand the phenomena whether it
had a positive or negative impact on the voting culture of that particular area. Respondents were
chosen purposefully but no discrimination was made in the selection based on age, sex, religion
and profession. In the result and findings section, their words are generalized to interpret the
research questions in a complete unbiased manner.

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1.8 Rational of the Study
Use of technology is increasing day by day in all the spheres of life. EVM is totally a new
concept for the voters of Bangladesh. They are not much acquainted with it. As a part of
digitalizing the government procedure the present government took a big initiative to introduce
EVM in the City Corporation election as pilot study. But still people have a huge curiosity about
it. The government officials are also in a fix about it. This study tried to focus on the effect of
EVM in the voting culture of Bangladesh. Our administration system is said to be one of the
most corrupted and inefficient one. People and government officials can’t trust themselves.
Political leaders are very much used to with the violence and vote rigging during the election
time. This use of technology can bring accountability and transparency in the voting process. It
will retrieve the trust among the political parties and pave the way for fresh candidate to win the
election. This study tried to identify the impact of EVM on the general citizens. By overcoming
small lacking of EVM, a fairer election can be conduct in Bangladesh in future.

1.9 Organization of the Study

The whole research report was written in total 5 comprehensive chapters. In the introduction
chapter, a brief discussion was given about the background of the problem. Then relevant books
and other secondary sources are searched to find out the solution of the problem. As existing
literature could not provide answer to the research questions, a theoretical model was developed
to conduct research. In the design of the study part the whole method and methodology of the
research was described to clarify the procedure of conducting the research. In the result and
findings part, all the major outcomes of the research were described briefly. Then conclusion was
given to the whole study based on the learning of the research. Recommendations were
suggested based on the report for the preventive actions to upgrade the voting culture in a
positive manner. The interview questionnaire was attached in the appendix section of the report.

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 2. Body of the Report

2.1 Research Design

The research design refers to the overall strategy that has been chosen to integrate the different
components of the study in a coherent and logical way, thereby; researcher can effectively
address the research problem. It constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement, and
analysis of data. To study this problem, phenomenological approach of qualitative research
design was used to inquiry influence of EVM in our voting culture, the collection of data in a
natural setting sensitive to the people and places under study, and data analysis that is both
inductive and deductive and establishes patterns or themes. The final written report presentation
includes the voices of participants, the reflexivity of the researcher, a complex description and
interpretation of the problem, and its contribution to the literature or call for a change.”

2.2 Sources of data

As the key of focus of this study will be and secondary data have been used in this study and
primary and secondary sources were used to collect data.

 Primary Sources:
The key focus of this study was voting culture of Bangladesh and to identify the effect of
using EVM in the election voting process. In-depth interview was used as an instrument
to collect primary data from the study area out of the sampling population.

 Secondary Sources
Data was collected from relevant secondary sources such as various articles, books,
newspapers, study reports, monographs and internet. The varieties of documents, reports,
official notes so that the researcher can get the real and valid information about the study.

2.3 Study Area

The study area included six polling centers covering Gazipur City Corporation area where EVM
is used for casting vote for the mayoral election and then two centers in Rani Bilashmoni
Government Boys' High School in Gazipur sadar were selected purposively considering easy

8
access and some other conveniences into consideration. The area of the Gazipur City
Corporation is 329.53 square kilometer.

2.4 Study Period

The study was conducted between the time period of 16-17 November, 2018 by the researcher
and his four field assistants in the Gazipur City Corporation area. All the interviews were taken
from the voters of the Gazipur sadar area where EVM was used to understand the views of
people about this new technology in the voting process.

2.5 Study population

The Gazipur City Corporation ‘s population is 2500000. The total number of voters in the area
was 115700. EVM was used in 6 out of 425 polling centers. In two centers of Rani Bilashmoni
Government Boys' High School, the total number of voters was 9070. They were our study
population for our study.

2.6 Sampling

Sampling is the process of selecting a subject of individuals from a larger group of individuals.
The sample size in any sample interview is a key factor as the constraints of time; budget and
efforts generally do not allow all the possible members of a population.

 Sampling Technique
Respondent’s selection process through Non-Probabilistic Sampling (Purposive
Sampling) was made inclusive irrespective of class or caste so that conclusion reached
can be authentic. As a fresh researcher, it was hard to get access to the target population
because of shortage of time, money and experience. So, respondents were chosen
purposively to get easily access to the information within a limited time.

 Sampling Size
Sample size for the research is 20 people who had used EVM in their voting process
during Gazipur City Corporation election. Respondents were chosen from different
religion, sex and professional background so that actual picture of the society can be
drawn from them after the study.

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 2.6.1 List of the samples:

Profession Number of respondent

Student 8
Private Service 5
Housewife 3
Government Officials 4

2.7 Data collection instruments

Data collection is the systematic approach to gathering and measuring information from a variety
of sources to get a complete and accurate picture of an area of interest. Data collection enables a
person or organization to answer relevant questions, evaluate outcomes and make predictions
about future probabilities and trends. There are many types of data collection for qualitative
research. Those are:

 Interview Method
It is the most significant method to get direct and accurate data from primary data
sources. In this study, the interviewer asks 20 respondents in the face to face situation
with a list of predetermined questions and records the replies of the respondents in the
space provided in the structured questionnaire.

 Content Analysis
Content analysis is a research technique used to make replicable and valid inferences by
interpreting and coding textual material. It was used to identify and make relationship
between different variables under the study. So that interpretation of the data became
easier for the research.

2.8 Field Procedure

Four trainee and skillful field assistants had employed for field level data collection on basis of
their skills and communication powers to collect data from chosen area of the research - Gazipur
City Corporation. The questionnaire was pre-tested for measuring validity and applicability
before its final use in the Dhaka North City Corporation area. The primary data was collected
through KII and in-depth Individual Interviews. On basis of the availability of information about

10
respondents and other criteria we had conducted field operation for collecting data from citizen
age of 20-50 by interviewing. We had faced some difficulties such as busy schedule of the
respondents, unwelcoming behavior, irrelevant answers to the questions etc. Proper supervision
and field work review had been ensured during field work. Data had been collected from selected
published research materials and reports of various national and international organizations.

2.9 Data Processing and Analysis Process

This study followed in analyzing collected data which was found from the field study. The study
had organized and prepared data for transcribing interviews, typing field notes and sectioning
data based on the sources of information. After conducting interviews, each was transcribed later
verbatim to understand the theme of respondent’s information and opinions. To maximize the
accuracy of the Bengali narratives in English, data was translated into English with the assistance
of our 2 fellow partners. As we had used Bangla in our questionnaire we had to translate all the
information into English for the convenience of analysis and research. Afterwards, the raw data
were organized for analyzing. Finally, we conducted data analyses by organizing it into
categories on the basis of themes, concepts, or similar features, formulating conceptual
definitions, and examined the relationships among concepts. Instead of using real name of the
participants, letters were assigned to maintain anonymity. Then researcher had tried to present
the description in figures and tables.

2.10Limitations of the study

Despite the efforts to make the study sound, it cannot escape some limitations. Such limitations
include:

1. First limitation of this research was timeframe. Within a very short time period the study
was conducted. A limited time was available to process and analyze a huge amount of
qualitative data for the research purpose in a manual way.
2. As apprentice researchers, the lack of experience to conduct research hampered the data
collection process to some extent.
3. Inefficient fund was available for conducting the research.
4. The number of respondents to be used for this study was pre-determined. The study was
conducted on only 20 respondents which were not sufficient to draw a very reliable
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 conclusion. So to make broader generalizations, which was the actual aim of conducting
research, more respondents should have been taken.
5. Non-probabilistic sampling was not considered a very reliable way for making broader
assumptions and generalizations; most researchers tend to prefer random/ probabilistic
sampling methods. But for easier access to respondents and also due to access, time and
budget limitations, we opted for non-probabilistic methods. The research would had been
most acceptable if we could have taken few more respondents.
6. Personal biasness of the researcher was included in data processing and analyzing
section. But it was tried to minimize the effect of biasness by following the ethical
conducts of doing qualitative research.

3. Results: Findings and Discussion

The first observation from the field level data is male and female both voters are very much open
during the conversation about politics and express their feelings in a very positive way. It
indicates that women are also very much concern about the political condition of the country and
they were performing their duty by voting their favourite candidate in the GCC election.

People possessed a good knowledge about politics but they were not interested in involving in
the politics as because they perceive that still the politics is in the hand of some selected persons
and they could not able to make any change until the superior authority wanted the same. Mr
Raju said, ‘a middle income people like me don’t suit as a politician.’

All the respondents were agreed to the point that voting system should be out of biasness and
corruption because it is an important component to strengthen democracy in the country. No
leaders will be accepted by them in future who would break the election rules and take the
government post unlawfully.

The young voters are very much excited about the introduction of technology in the voting
process but the middle age and older people didn’t want to comment on this point quickly. They
admitted that it was a good initiative by the PM. but EVM is not out of the controversy. Proper
security measures should be taken as well as a good publicity is essential to create a positive

12
outlook about EVM among the citizen. One respondent said, ‘I heard that EVM makes the vote
rigging process easier than before.’

All the respondents were agreed to the comment that the voting experience on EVM was hustle
free and fast. All of them were very excited about the voting procedure but the overall process
was very easy. Shaheen Alam, a 50 years old government employee, said, ‘It is a much easier
and user-friendly voting system.’

In the question of violence, the respondents were very much disappointed. 9 centers out of 245
centers in the GCC election were closed because of the report of irregularity in the vote casting.
The political party leaders still could not believe one another which increase violence among
their supporters in the election centers. But the good news was that no report of violence or
irregularities were found in the Centers where EVM were used. Even BNP nominated candidate
also didn’t accuse EVM system in the election process of GCC.

In the question of gaining trust among the voters and general public, the application of EVM
was fully successful. People now believe that EVM is a trustable way to conduct the election.
CEC declared that EVM will be used in 6 seats of National Election this year which is undoubted
fully a positive news for its promotion. Mr. Salam, a government employee, said, ‘huge amount
of money is used in conducting election in national and sub national level. Usage of EVM can
reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of the government expenditure. If we draw a graph of
the review of people about EVM, then it would be like this-

Review of People
20%
positive
negative

80%

3.1 Diagram of review on EVM among respondents

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EVM has gained trust among the political parties as well as the general voters. They believed
that rigging the vote would be much harder in the centers where EVM is introduced. So, the
people of those centers were feel comfortable with the result of the vote and chances of violence
and other malpractices are declined.

EVM gives a platform to the citizens to express their view in the governing of the state which is
one of the fundamental principles of democracy. It helps them to use their voting power to select
the candidate they want. Social identity of the voters can be traced if free and fair elections are
conducted.

As EVM influences both the determinates in a positive way, we can come to a conclusion that
EVM has a positive influence in the voting culture of Bangladesh.

4.Summary and Conclusions

Political stability is considered to be one of the fundamental precondition of economic growth

and sustainable development. There is now a little possibility to hold the power of the state in an
unconstitutional meaning. To sustain this situation and political stability, free and fair election is
must by which people can choose their favorite candidate to make decisions for them in the
parliament. The government also try to create an environment where all the people of the country
can express their opinion freely and build a relationship with the citizens to work more
efficiently. EVM can be a new strategy for us to elect our representatives in a more transparent,
accountable and cost efficient way to meet the challenge of the globalization under Digital
Bangladesh policy of the government. The pilot study of EVM in GCC was very successful and
people of Gazipur appreciate it very much. It reduces the chance of rigging the vote and give us
accurate result of the vote with in a very short time. Violence was seen less in the area where
EVM was used and voters especially the younger ones were very much excited about giving
their first vote by using technology. People demand more use of EVM in the election process so
that time and money can be saved as well as credibility of the result increases. It will be
considered as a great initiative under vision 2021 to introduce local technology in the election
process to promote the scholars of the country as well as digitalized the administration in the
future.

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 5.Recommendations

 Awareness program should be run by the government about EVM.

 Promotion of EVM should be legalized by the Act of parliament to make it more validate.
 Preventive measures should be taken against cyber-attack on the result archive.
 Inclusion of all political party in the election with make the environment more
competitive.
 The Government officials should be given proper ICT training before working in election
by using EVM.
 Use of money in the election should be strictly prohibited and monitored by the law
enforcement agencies.
 Voting at polling stations should remain free from every type of internal and external
pressures imposed upon by the dominant party.
 Voting at polling stations should be standardized throughout the country.
 Introducing more electronic vote counters at polling stations, because of the conceptual
clarity of the system and the unambiguous results it produces. The paper ballots should
be counted electronically. Manual counting should only take place if there are technical
faults or there is reason to doubt that the equipment is working properly.
 Violation of the secrecy of the ballot by picking up compromising radiation should be
combated reactively by making this a criminal offence.
 Voting passes for voting at any polling station should be provided with authenticity
features. So that none can vote twice.
 Municipal authorities should actively inform voters about which polling stations provide
access for voters with impairments.
 The principle of special mobile polling stations should be introduced in the law and
regulations so that voting can take place in penal institutions, hospitals, nursing homes
etc.
 Official reports should be kept for a period to be specified in the Elections Act for the
purpose of academic research.
 Every election should be audited by independent experts from home and abroad.

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 Bibliography

 Asaduzzaman, M., Rahman, A.K.M.M. and Jinia, N.J., 2011. E-governance initiatives in
Bangladesh: Some Observations. Nepalese Journal of Public Policy and Governance,
29(2).
 Dhaka Tribune. (2018). Gazipur city polls: Voters happy with EVM. [online] Available
at: https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2018/06/26/gazipur-city-polls-
voters-happy-with-evm [Accessed 21 Dec. 2018].
 Faisal, M., Hossain, M.D. and Bhuiyen, M.R.B., Design and Implementation of
Electronic Voting System (EVS).
 Hasan, M.S., Farhan, Q. and Al Mahmood, A., 2010. An exploratory and feasibility study
of implementing online based voting system in Bangladesh. organization, 1(3).
 Kumar, D.A. and Begum, T.U.S., 2012, March. Electronic voting machine—A review. In
Pattern Recognition, Informatics and Medical Engineering (PRIME), 2012 International
Conference on (pp. 41-48). IEEE.
 Sarker, M.M. and Islam, M.N., 2013. Management of sustainable, credible and integrated
electronic voting (E-Voting) system for Bangladesh. Management of Sustainable
Development, 5(1), pp.15-21.
 Siddiqi, D.M., 2010. Political culture in contemporary Bangladesh: Histories, ruptures
and contradictions. In Political Islam and governance in Bangladesh (pp. 21-40).
Routledge.
 Staff Correspondent (2018). Extreme high, extreme low. [online] The Daily Star.
Available at: https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/gazipur-city-polls-turnout-unusual-
many-centres-1596592 [Accessed 21 Dec. 2018].
 Waheduzzaman, W. and Alam, Q., 2015. Democratic culture and participatory local
governance in Bangladesh. Local Government Studies, 41(2), pp.260-279.

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 Appendix

Questionnaire:

Assalamu Alaikum/Namoskar,

The attached survey instrument has been designed as part of fulfilment of the requirements for
the Degree of Bachelor of Social Science in Public Administration, Dhaka University. You will
not be asked to identify yourself. You will be asked only for information and opinions. This
interview is completely anonymous and no information can be traced back to you.

1. Gender of the respondent-

2. Age-
3. Profession-
4. Are you registered for vote?
5. Do you active in politics?
6. Your views on the importance of voting in strengthen democracy
7. What do you think about the introduction of Technology in election?
8. What do you know about Electronic Voting Machine (EVM)?
9. Describe your experience on using EVM?
10. What kind of difference you feel between the manual and EVM voting system?
11. What are the benefits of EVM in our country?
12. What is the relation between EVM and Election Violence? Does it reduce violence?
Please explain…
13. Does it help to arrange a free and fair election?
14. Does it gain trust among voters and political parties?
15. What could be the major challenges in introducing EVM in all over the country?

Thanks for your kind participation, responsive co-operation and valuable opinion. Have a nice
day.

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Election Related laws in Bangladesh:

1. President Election Act, 1991

2. President Election Rules, 1991
3. Representation of the People (Amendment) Order Act, 2009
4. Representation of the People Order, 1972
5. The Electoral Roles Act, 2009
6. The Political Parties Ordinance, 1978

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