The upcoming Chittagong University Central Students’ Union (CUCSU) elections will be conducted at faculty buildings, not in residential halls, the university’s election commission announced.
Chief Election Commissioner Professor Monir Uddin made the disclosure during a press briefing held at the Social Sciences Faculty auditorium on Wednesday afternoon.
“In the 1990 CUCSU elections, voting was held at the university’s laboratory school. This time, we’ve chosen faculty buildings instead,” he said. “Most of our students are non-residential and are more familiar with faculty buildings than dormitories.”
The specific allocation of faculty buildings for students from each hall will be announced in due course.
Professor Monir Uddin also noted that, like the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU), CUCSU will use the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) system for counting votes.
He further stated that the university has received instructions from the highest level of government to proceed with the election and that security assurances have also been given. “There is no threat of unrest or conflict at the moment, and the campus situation remains stable,” he said.
During the press briefing, Election Commissioner Professor Amir Muhammad Nasrullah read out the 17-point code of conduct applicable to candidates, voters, and media representatives.
In response to a question regarding recent clashes between students and locals, Commissioner Mohammad Taiyab Chowdhury clarified that classes and exams are running normally and that an investigation committee has been formed to look into the incident.
Other officials present at the briefing included Professor AKM Ariful Haque Siddiqui, member secretary of the Election Commission and provost of Shahid Abdur Rab Hall; Professor Md. Zafar Ullah Talukder, dean of the Faculty of Law; Professor Momtaz Uddin Ahmed, department of Public Administration; Professor Mohammad Zahedur Rahman Chowdhury, Institute of Marine Sciences; Begum Ismat Ara Haque, provost of Shamsunnahar Hall,
The draft voter list, published on September 8, showed a total of 25,866 registered voters. The final list is set to be published on Thursday (September 12).
According to the official election schedule nomination forms will be distributed on September 14; submission will be accepted from September 15–17; scrutiny will take place on September 18; preliminary candidate list will be released on September 21; withdrawal deadline is September 23; final candidate list will be announced on September 25; voting day is scheduled for October 12, from 9am to 4pm, followed by vote counting
Chittagong University currently has 48 departments and six institutes, with academic activities conducted across eight faculty buildings. However, the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, though under the Faculty of Science, holds classes in a separate facility.
