There Were No Voters at the Polling Centers, But Votes Were on the Counting Tables

Sheikh Hasina has termed the national election held on 12 February a “planned fraudulent farce” and demanded the cancellation of the results in an official statement. She alleged that although voter presence at polling centers was low, the number of votes increased abnormally at the counting tables.

In her statement, Sheikh Hasina said that the step-by-step vote percentages released by the Election Commission were statistically inconsistent and unrealistic. According to her claim, voting began at 7:30 am and continued until 4:30 pm. By 11:00 am, the turnout rate was reported at 14.96 percent. However, within just one hour, by 12:00 pm, it allegedly jumped to 32.88 percent which she described as an “abnormal surge.”

She further argued that if all 32,789 polling centers were operational, the statistics would indicate that one vote was cast every few seconds at each center during that period, which she claimed was practically impossible. She also questioned the turnout figures announced for 2:00 pm and 4:30 pm and described the overall claim of nearly 60 percent voter turnout as “unrealistic and laughable.”

Referring to participation data from prisons and overseas voters, she stated that approximately 3 percent of inmates and about 7 percent of expatriate voters cast their votes figures she said contradict the claim of high overall turnout.

Sheikh Hasina also alleged that state resources and administrative machinery were used in favor of the “Yes” vote and claimed that even the ballot design attempted to influence voter psychology. She cited the absence of sufficient signatures on result sheets as evidence of a lack of transparency.

The statement also mentioned allegations of violence, polling station takeovers, ballot stamping, fake voting, and pre-signed result sheets in various locations prior to and on election day. She claimed that many of the few voters who went to cast their ballots found that their votes had already been cast.

In the statement, she asserted that although her party called for a boycott of the election, it did not resort to violence. Instead, she alleged that her party was unlawfully banned and forcibly kept out of the election. She further claimed that due to low public participation, the vote count had to be artificially inflated.

She concluded by demanding the cancellation of the election, the resignation of the current government, the release of political detainees, and the holding of a fresh election under a neutral caretaker government.

No immediate response to these allegations was received from the Election Commission or the government.