UNITED NATIONS

ELECTORAL ASSISTANCE
SECRETARIAT
(UNEAS)

Bangladesh 2001
Parliamentary Elections

SUMMARY OF THE
OBSERVATION
FINDINGS

PERCENTAGES IN THIS SUMMARY REFLECT THE POLLING STATIONS VISITED BY

THE INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS ONLY, AND MAY NOT BE A REFLECTION OF ALL
POLLING STATIONS IN THE COUNTRY
 OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF VOTING
Reports from 63 UNEAS-coordinated observer teams, which visited 585 polling stations,
rated the VOTING process as follows:

Good Good 80.2 %

Fair Fair 14.0 %
Poor 4.3 %
Very Poor Very Po 1.5 %

ASSESSMENT OF VOTING
Good
80%

Fair
Very Poor Poor 14%
2% 4%

Good Fair Poor Very

Very Poor Poor
OPENING OF THE POLLING STATION YES % NO %

Ballot box shown to be empty and then sealed by the

Presiding Officer before voting again 99.1 0.9

Polling station open on time 95.3 4.7

LOCATION OF POLLING STATION

Polling station easily identifiable for the voters 98.2 1.8

Polling station functioning 98.0 2.0

VOTING PROCESS
Attendance:
All members of the polling station staff present 97.2 2.8

Women among the polling station staff 89.5 10.5

AL polling agent present 97.0 3.0

“Four Parties Alliance” (led by BNP) polling agent present 95.5 4.5

Other party/independent candidates’ polling agents present 93.4 6.6

Any domestic monitors present 67.9 32.1

Unauthorized people present inside the polling station 13.0 87.0

Unauthorized people present outside, within the security perimeter 19.3 80.7

Election Material:
Essential material missing 4.7 95.3

Organization and Procedures:

Layout of the polling station organized appropriately 94.4 5.6

Ballot papers under control by the polling station staff 99.8 0.2

Ballot box under control by the polling station staff 99.5 0.5

Ballot box properly locked and sealed 98.7 1.3

 YES % NO %
Voter Eligibility:
Voter’s name checked marked against the voters’ list 94.9 5.1

Tendered ballot issued 17.0 83.0

Challenged ballot issued 9.9 90.1

Case of “family voting” (multiple/group voting) 7.0 93.0

Secrecy of the Vote:

Measures taken to ensure secrecy of the vote 95.7 4.3

Violation of secrecy 13.8 86.2

Blind or physically handicapped voters given assistance

in the marking of their papers 53.6 46.4

Voter Ink:
Voters’ hands checked for traces of indelible ink
before being allowed to vote 87.2 12.8

People with traces of indelible ink on their hands allowed to vote 9.5 90.5

Voters’ fingers properly marked with the indelible ink 90.8 9.2

Freedom to Vote:
Intimidation reported or observed inside or outside the polling station 8.6 91.4

Weapons carried inside the polling station or outside by

unauthorized people, within the security perimeter 2.7 97.3

Illegal political activity reported or observed inside or

outside the polling station 21.4 78.6

Disruptions inside the polling station 7.5 92.5

Disruptions outside the polling station 9.0 91.0

Voting suspended 2.5 97.5

 ASSESSMENT OF VOTING: GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
DHAKA 184 polling stations visited CHITTAGONG 120 polling stations visited
Good 84.2 % Good Good 80.0 %
Fair Fair 13.6 % Fair Fair 15.0 %
Poor Poor 1.6 % Poor Poor 5.0 %
Very Poor Very Poor 0.5 % Very Poor Very Poor 0.0 %

SIRAJGANJ 97 polling stations visited KHULNA 58 polling stations visited

Good Good 82.5 % Good G 91.4 %
Fair Fair 11.3 % Fair Fa 6.9 %
Poor Poor 4.1 % Poor Poor 1.7 %
Very Poor Very Poor 2.1 % Very Poor Very Poor 0.0 %
SYLHET 71 polling stations visited RANGPUR 31 polling stations visited
Good Good 67.6 % Good Good 77.4 %
Fair Fair 16.9 % Fair Fa ir 16.1 %
Poor Poor 12.7 % Poor Poor 3.2 %
Very Poor Very Poor 2.8 % Very Poor Ver Poor 3.2 %

BARISAL 24 polling stations visited

Good Good 54.2 %
Fair Fair 29.2 %
Poor Poor 4.2 %
Very Poor Very Poor 12.5 %
 OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF CLOSING AND COUNTING
Reports from 63 UNEAS-coordinated observer teams, which visited 63 polling stations
rated the CLOSING AND COUNTING process as follows:

Good Good 88.9 %

Fair Fair 9.5 %
Poor Poor 1.6 %
Very Poor Very Poor 0.0 %
CLOSING OF THE POLLING STATION YES % NO %

Time:
Polling station close at or around 16:00 hours 100.0 0.0

Queue:
Voters still queuing when the polling station closed 13.8 86.2

Voters still queuing allowed to vote 46.2 53.8

Voters not queuing allowed to vote 11.8 88.2

Pre-counting Procedures:
Used ballot boxes sealed before moving them to the polling station’s
counting room 77.8 22.2

Ballot boxes moved to the polling station’s counting room according

to the procedures 96.7 3.3

COUNTING PROCESS
Attendance:
Presiding Officer present 100.0 0.0

AL polling agent present 100.0 0.0

“Four Parties Alliance” (led by BNP) polling agent present 98.4 1.6

Other party/independent candidates’ polling agents present 86.4 13.6

Domestic monitors present 68.3 31.7

Unauthorized people present inside the counting room 26.7 73.3

Counting:
Seals on the ballot boxes intact before being opened 96.7 3.3

Ballot papers placed in stacks of 100 before counting them 71.2 28.8

Presiding Officer announce the total number of ballot papers in the

counting room before counting them 65.5 34.5

Correct procedures followed for determining if a ballot paper was

valid or invalid 89.5 10.5
 YES % NO %

Total number of the challenged ballot papers + or = 50 5.9 94.1

Total number of the tendered ballot papers + or = 50 7.8 92.2

Disputes regarding the counting resolved according to established

procedures 80.5 19.5

Rejected ballot paper clearly marked as rejected 86.0 14.0

Counting process hindered by practical problems 32.8 67.2

Counting process hindered by incidents (violence or intimidation) 1.7 98.3

CLOSING OF THE COUNT

Presiding Officer duly filled in the statement of the count 98.1 1.9

Party polling agents signed the statement of the count 100.0 0.0

Presiding Officer duly filled in the ballot paper account form 98.1 1.9

Party polling agent received a certified copy of the ballot paper

account form 87.0 13.0

Election materials packed and placed in a bag before being

transported to the Returning Officer 98.1 1.9

Certified copy of the statement of the count form immediately

mailed to the Bangladesh Election Commission 91.3 8.7

Presiding Officer delivered the bag containing the election results

and materials to the Returning Officer 96.2 3.8
 ASSESSMENT OF COUNTING: GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
DHAKA 19 polling stations visited CHITTAGONG 13 polling stations visited
Good 94.7 % Good Good 92.3 %
FairFair 5.3 % Fair Fair 7.7 %
PoorPoor 0.0 % Poor Poor 0.0 %
Very Poor Poo 0.0 % Very Poor Very Poor 0.0 %

SIRAJGANJ 10 polling stations visited KHULNA 6 polling stations visited

Good 100.0 % Good Go o d 83.3 %
Fair F 0.0 % Fair Fair 16.7 %
Poor P 0.0 % Poor Poor 0.0 %
Very Poor V 0.0 % Very Poor Very Poor 0.0 %
SYLHET 7 polling stations visited RANGPUR 4 polling stations visited
Good G 57.1 % Good Good 75.0 %
Fair F 28.6 % Fair r 25.0 %
Poor P 14.3 % Poor 0.0 %
Very Poor V 0.0 % Very Poor 0.0 %

BARISAL 4 polling stations visited

Good 100.0 %
Fair F 0.0 %
Poor P 0.0 %
Very Poor V 0.0 %
 OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF CONSOLIDATION
Reports from 39 UNEAS-coordinated observer teams, which visited 39 consolidation centers
rated the CONSOLIDATION process as follows:

Good Good 82.1 %

Fair 17.9 %
Poor Poor 0.0 %
Very Poor Very Poor 0.0 %

ASSESSMENT OF CONSOLIDATION
Very Poor
Poor 0%
Fair 0%
18%

Good
82%

Good Fair Poor Very

Very Poor Poor
CONSOLIDATION OF THE RESULTS YES % NO %

AL election agent and/or candidate present 82.1 17.9

“Four Parties Alliance” (led by BNP) agent and/or

candidate present 84.6 15.4

Other party’s agent and/or candidate or independent candidate 3.2 36.8

and/or their present 63.2 36.8

Domestic monitors present 51.4 48.6

Postal ballot paper 11.1 88.9

Total number of the postal ballot papers + or = 50 10.0 90.0

 ASSESSMENT OF CONSOLIDATION: GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
DHAKA 7 consolidation centers visited CHITTAGONG 10 consolidation centers visited
Good 71.4 % Good d 90.0 %
Fair Fi 28.6 % Fair air 10.0 %
Poor P 0.0 % Poor Poor 0.0 %
Very Poor V 0.0 % Very Poorry Po or 0.0 %

SIRAJGANJ 5 consolidation centers visited KHULNA 2 consolidation centers visited

Good Goo d100.0 % Good oo 50.0 %
Fair Fair 0.0 % Fair Fair 50.0 %
Poor Poo 0.0 % Poor Poor 0.0 %
Very Poor Ve r0.0 % Very Poor Very Poor 0.0 %
SYLHET 7 consolidation centers visited RANGPUR 4 consolidation centers visited
GoodGod 57.1 % Good d 100.0 %
FairFair 42.9 % Fair Fair 0.0 %
PoorPoor 0.0 % Poor Poor 0.0 %
Very Poorery Poor 0.0 % Very PoorVery Poor 0.0 %

BARISAL 4 consolidation centers visited

GoodGood 100.0 %
FairFair 0.0 %
Poor oor 0.0 %
Very Poorry Poor 0.0 %