The government wants to make the entire election process smart with digital technology. For that purpose, after the voter, the Election Commission is going to direct the candidates online. The commission has already taken up the project to start the process of submitting nomination papers online for the elections. In the meantime, the ICT Division has also presented a demo of online nomination submission to the commission. The presentation outlines the online nomination process as well as how it can be implemented. According to sources, the preparation of a dummy platform has already started. When the platform is ready, the Election Commission (EC) headed by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal wants to test it by holding small elections first.
For this purpose, the Election Commission wants to reach a final decision in the next commission about the implementation of this process of online submission of nomination papers for parliament or local government elections.
In this regard, Election Commissioner Ahsan Habib Khan told reporters at the Agargaon Nirbachon Bhaban (Election Building) on Monday that it is possible to implement online nomination submission, it will be discussed in the next commission meeting. It will be implemented if decided by the Commission. Challenges will be explored by conducting pilot projects.
He says, “At first, the system will be tried at the Union Parishad Elections, then in the Upazilas, and in the City Corporation elections. If successfully done, arrangements will be made to submit nominations online for the national elections as well.”
“We think, beautiful things will be accepted by everyone” – added Ahsan Habib, former director general of BTRC.
It is to be noted that, after the incident in 2016 when the local government prevented the submission of nomination papers in the UP elections, the commission led by Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed took the initiative to submit nominations online. Later, the EC did not respond due to the reluctance of the candidates, even though this opportunity was given in the Zilla Parishad vote. The present Commission has also taken into consideration the convenience of enforcing the Code of Conduct, thus showing renewed interest in online submission of nominations.
In this regard, Election Commissioner Ahsan Habib Khan said, “Now, starting from schools and colleges, applications for everything are being submitted online. Online submission has advantages. There are complaints that many of those who want to submit are obstructed.”
He said, “I was given a presentation by the ICT Division on how to implement this idea. It is being considered so that there is no difficulty in submitting nominations.”