DUCSU Ballots Printed in Nilkhet: Major Numerical Discrepancies, Election Rigging Alleged

DU Representative

A private television investigation has revealed that ballot papers for the much-discussed Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) elections were printed unsecured in Nilkhete. However, the university authorities claim that these ballots were printed in the highest secrecy on a high-quality press.

But the history of the incident and the statements of those involved say otherwise. The ballots were printed at Jalal Press in Gausul Azam Market in Nilkhet.

The owner of the press, Md. Jalal, admitted that the ballots used in the DUCSU elections were printed at his press. According to him, a person named Md. Ferdous gave him the job, and the printing of the ballots was completed in three days.

Jalal said that a total of 96,000 ballots were supplied from his press on 48,000 pieces of paper (two ballots per paper).

On the other hand, the ballots were then cut at another shop in Nilkhet, ‘Mecca Paper Cutting House’. The owner and employees of the shop said that the person named Ferdous also worked there. According to them, 22 reams of paper were cut in one night, from which about 88 thousand ballots were made. As a result, there was a discrepancy of 8 thousand ballots between the account of Jalal Press (96 thousand) and the account of the cutting center (88 thousand).

However, Zahid Hossain, chairman of Anja Corporation, the company that won the tender to print the ballots and count them using OMR machines, has claimed that the ballots were printed at their own press in Keraniganj. He even said that they printed a total of 153,000 ballots. However, along with his confession, he has placed the responsibility on the employees.

Meanwhile, the total number of voters in the election was 39,775. Each voter casts their vote on six separate ballots. According to the rules, the total number of ballots required is 238,650. However, these numbers do not match the information found in the investigation.

Chief Returning Officer Mohammad Jasim Uddin claimed that printing DUCSU ballots is a highly specialized process, which is not possible in a general press. In his words, “The price of this machine is 50 to 7 million taka. Only one brand applied for the tender.”

Regarding showing evidence of ballot printing in Nilkhet, he said, “Since you say there is evidence, then the administration will definitely look into the matter.”

Finally, the investigation says that there are inconsistencies and discrepancies at every stage, from the printing of postal ballots to the numbers.