Voter list update campaign gains no momentum in hills

The voter list update program has commenced in 26 upazilas of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Awareness campaigns are also ongoing. However, the process of collecting information on new voters and removing deceased voters' names has not received much response in the three hill districts—Bandarban, Rangamati, and Khagrachhari. Many residents of remote villages in the 122 unions of the Chittagong Hill Tracts are unaware that the voter list update process has begun.

According to the Election Office, the nationwide voter list update program started on January 20, 2025, and will continue until February 3, 2025. In this program, data collectors, mostly primary school teachers, are visiting households to collect information on new voters and record deceased voters’ names for removal. The monitoring of this process is being handled by supervising primary school headteachers, while Upazila Election Officers oversee data collection activities in their respective upazilas.

In Bandarban district, 317 data collectors and 62 supervisors are working across 34 unions in 7 upazilas. As of January 28, 2025, they have collected information on 3,594 new voters and recorded 580 deceased voters for removal.

In Rangamati district, 536 data collectors and 134 supervisors are engaged in data collection across 50 unions in 10 upazilas. So far, they have collected information on 10,939 voters.

In Khagrachhari district, 530 data collectors and 101 supervisors are working in 38 unions across 9 upazilas. The data collection process is progressing slowly, with only 1.1% of the target voters' information collected so far.

Residents of remote villages, such as Ujala Tanchangya from Hatibhanga Para in Raicha Sadar Union and Ananta Tanchangya from Tiger Para, stated that no one had visited their homes for data collection. They were also unaware that voter list updating was taking place.

A similar situation exists in other unions of Rangamati and Khagrachhari. Due to poor communication infrastructure and the long distances between villages, the voter list update process is not proceeding smoothly. Many data collectors are reportedly setting up collection points in villages instead of visiting individual households, leading to the exclusion of many potential voters.

However, Rangamati District Election Officer Sakhawat Hossain and Bandarban District Election Officer Sahadat Hossain stated that data collectors are visiting households to gather information. They also mentioned that the annual target for new voters is around 1.5% of the total eligible population, and data collection is progressing satisfactorily. The numbers typically increase toward the end of the process. No specific complaints regarding negligence in data collection have been received yet. However, if any are reported, necessary actions will be taken.

Since the Chittagong Hill Tracts is a special region, a special verification committee has been formed at the upazila level. The Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) is the committee’s convener, while the Election Officer serves as the member secretary. After the verification process, eligible individuals will be nominated for voter registration and photograph collection, which will begin on February 16, 2025.