Have you registered to vote?

'What is your ward number?’ asks the enumerator at Motijheel TNT High School.

Sabina, a domestic worker, replies ‘108.’

‘That’s your house number. What is your ward number? Where do you live?’

‘It’s under Ramna thana.’

‘That isn’t here. Ramna is 53 or 54. I think your centre is in Moghbazar, but I’m not sure, so call this phone number —’ he hands her a form and underlines a set of digits, ‘and ask where you should go.’

This dialogue repeated itself at the various voting centres around Dhaka last week. Most people did not know what their ward number was and hence did not know where to go. Also, the notice published in the newspapers, which was compiled by the Bangladesh Youth Forum, had some errors in listing the relevant centres for each area. The officials present at each centre as well as the armed forces could only vouch for their individual areas and ward numbers and knew little of other parts.

It was just past 4pm last Saturday at Rajdhani High School where a long line of people waited to have their forms completed and photos taken. Enumerators were calling it a day and finishing off with the registration forms they had left — they had close to run out, not having expected as large a crowd. Though notices said the centres would be open from 9am to 5pm, the officials patiently repeated that it was actually 4pm, not 5pm.

Last weekend, voter registration centres in Dhaka Division were open for three extra days — April 11, 12, and 13 — for those who had missed out in the first rounds. People were asked to bring some form of identification such as a passport or a driving licence if they had these documents. Although initially it had been reported that those who turned up would have to explain why they had not shown up earlier, the hundreds that did crowd to each centre did not face much trouble except for waiting in long queues in the heat. The armed forces present at each centre made a point of approaching every individual who looked a little lost and helping out by telling them where they needed to go.

Each person who came for late registration had a different story. Some had filled out the registration forms when enumerators had gone door-to-door but had lost the corresponding slip needed when going to take the photographs. Abul Rashid, a 34-year-old private service holder, was one such. ‘You have to fill out the form again,’ he was told at the Rajdhani High School. ‘We can’t search out the matching form for you now.’ Apart from that, however, he was able to complete the process reasonably quickly. Once Rashid’s details had been filled in and he had signed the form, he went straight up to have his photograph and fingerprints taken. And that was that, for another two months at least, which is when the officials estimate that the voter identity cards will be available. They will have to be picked up by the holder who needs to bring the attached slip along.

As of April 11, 2008, according to the Election Commission website, a total of 5,61,77,041 citizens are now registered voters, with 1,01,16,343 completed voter identity cards and 57,99,402 already handed over to the owners. ‘Every day, the numbers are increasing,’ says Reaz Ahmed, communications manager for the Preparation of Electoral Roll with Photograph (PERP). ‘Three, four, five lakh people are being added daily to the list being prepared.’

The electoral roll preparation process has six phases to it, most of which have been completed by now. The first phase was collecting data and making preparations in terms of equipment, recruitment and training of the people involved in the registration process and setting up operational registration centres. The second stage was to obtain and scrutinise forms at the centres, serialising forms in laptops and making entries of the forms in logbooks. The third stage required maximum participation from the people as they came to be photographed, have their fingerprints taken and their data scrutinised. This is the stage at which people are slipping out of the final list; some forget the dates, some lose their slips and some just don’t bother. ‘We’re talking about a population of 180 million people,’ Ahmed says. ‘At some point you have to ask whether the system is at fault or whether it is the individual. If someone is still left out, after all the arrangements we have made, they will have to come forward after the draft is published. They will also have to give an explanation of why they hadn’t registered earlier.’

‘It’s a never ending process,’ Ahmed continues. ‘Take one district such as Noakhali — the work in each upazila has been completed and afterwards the centres were open for some extra days for those who had been left out.’ At some point, they have to stop waiting for people to show up and go ahead so the draft will be ready on schedule.

‘After the draft is published, there will be a time period of fifteen days when those names or other details have been wrongly taken down and those who are left out can come forward and still be integrated in the process,’ says Biswas Lutfur Rahman, deputy election commissioner for the Dhaka Division. The list is now undergoing revision and multiple checks at the army headquarters which allows them to eliminate duplicate voters and also catch on to false voters. Just this week in Gazipur, three such fakes were identified and arrested, and now have cases filed against them. However, fakes are uncommon and this instance is probably a case of a few people testing the waters to see if they could get away with it.

‘Duplicate registration, on the other hand, is something we have seen with more frequency,’ says Rahman. ‘There have been cases of people living in one district but owning land in a different one, so they register themselves in both places in order not to lose any legal right to that land.’ These double entries have so far been easily eliminated by checking fingerprints against the existing database. Rahman reports that they are keeping count of how many forms had been filled out during door-to-door visits and how many had actually been photographed and altogether completed the registration process.

Rahman says that with the aid of the army and a precise plan, they have managed to be perfectly on schedule in the preparation of the voter list and their problems have been minimised. He is not certain how long it will take to process the draft but informs that after the draft publication the only body that can facilitate the registration process is the Election Commission.

‘As for absentee voters, if they have family in the country, their family can notify the voting centre. Otherwise, they will always have the option of registering when they do come to the country, such as when migrant labourers return to Bangladesh. Voter registration is a process that will be carried out yearly from January 2 to January 31, so the list can be updated regularly as necessary,’ Rahman says. Additionally, Reaz Ahmed says that there have been many instances of people making a point of returning to the country and registering as a voter.

Furthermore, Rahman believes that they have done their utmost to promote awareness of the enormous significance of the process. ‘We have gone to localities and convinced people to participate as this voter identity card will serve the purpose of a national identity card. So it is not about whether you want to vote or not next election.’