Vote counting for the central council in the Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU) election has yet to begin 24 hours after polling, with officials waiting for instructions from the Election Commission (EC). Teachers and polling officers assigned to the task remain on standby.
Pro-Vice Chancellor (Administration) Dr Sohel Ahmed told reporters on Friday evening that student leaders were in talks with the EC over how the votes would be counted.
The central counting process would begin after that meeting, he said.
So far, results from 18 residential halls have been tallied, while counting is still pending in two, Dr Ahmed added.
Asked when the final results would be announced, Islami Chhatra Shibir’s GS candidate Majharul Islam was told by the pro-VC, “The results will only be declared once counting is complete. Whether it will be done by traditional method or by machine is what the meeting is deciding.”
An election official confirmed that hall-level counting is still ongoing. Although OMR machines were initially planned for the process, the decision was later reversed in favor of manual counting.
At Kabi Nazrul Islam Hall, polling officer Ujjal Kumar Mondal told reporters that they had been waiting since 3pm to start the central vote count, but no instructions had been issued.
“That is why the central counting hasn’t started yet,” he said.
Polling took place on Thursday from 9am to 7pm, followed by overnight counting.
On Friday morning, Returning Officer Jannatul Ferdous collapsed and died during the process, triggering anger among students and teachers.
Blaming “mismanagement” for her colleague’s death, Professor Dr Sultana Akhter of the History Department, who served as Returning Officer at Nawab Faizunnesa Hall, said the traditional counting method could take “three more days” to publish results.
