Holding elections is not like joining at battleground, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal has said. He asked all to shun the attitude of showing muscle and doing violence.

The CEC made this comment while exchanging views with the candidates of Cumilla City Corporation elections at Shilpakala Academy auditorium in Cumilla city on Sunday.

He expressed hope that Cumilla City Corporation elections would be model elections. “Every step, which is necessary for the elections, is being done. Local administration has been instructed to crack down on any violence.”

About voting in EVMs, the CEC said that there would be measures to alleviate EVM embarrassment among the voters. Once the voter identification is confirmed through NID or other means, the voter will be able to vote even if the fingerprint is not matching, he said.

Referring to the voter turnout, the Chief Election Commissioner said that in many countries of the developed world when the voter turnout is 40 to 50 per cent but in our country it is 70 to 80 per cent.

Cumilla Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Kamrul Hasan presided over the programme where Election Commissioner Md. Alamgir, joint secretary of Election Commission Secretariat Farhad Ahmed Khan, Returning Officer Shahedunnabi Chowdhury and Superintendent of Police Faruk Ahmed, were present, among others.