Despite deciding not to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in elections, the Election Commission (EC) continues to spend on the devices, paying large sums every year for storage and warehouse rent.
Most of the more than 1.5 lakh machines have become damaged after lying unattended in warehouses for years, while several thousand units worth more than Tk500 crore are missing.
EC officials say the commission has yet to reach a final decision on the future of the machines. A committee has been working on the issue for a long time, but there has been no visible progress.
Due to objections from political parties, the commission decided not to use EVMs in either national or local government elections. As a result, the question of how the machines will be disposed of has become a major issue.
Several meetings have been held involving representatives from Dhaka University, the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), the Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), and Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory (BMTF).
Experts at those meetings warned that EVM batteries could be highly harmful to the environment, stressing that environmental risks must be considered when disposing of the machines.
A member of the committee working on the disposal process said, on condition of anonymity, that a report had already been submitted to the IMED of the Planning Ministry after the project ended.
IMED will review the report and provide its opinion, after which a decision will be taken through further meetings.
“Most of the machines have already become unusable. A huge amount of public money has been wasted on this project, and the waste is continuing. We want to dispose of them quickly,” the committee member said.
EC officials said a total of 1,45,252 EVMs are currently stored in warehouses, including facilities operated by the supplier Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory and rented warehouses across the country.
Of these, 86,233 machines are kept in BMTF warehouses and 7,429 in Dhaka. Another 2,607 are stored in Sylhet, 13,530 in Rajshahi, 4,405 in Rangpur, 6,648 in Mymensingh, 4,135 in Chattogram, 7,012 in Khulna, 6,875 in Cumilla, 3,885 in Faridpur, and 5,087 in Barishal.
EC sources say crores of taka are being spent every year on warehouse rent and maintenance. Around Tk4 crore is spent annually just to store the machines. As the project has ended, these costs are now being met from the commission’s revenue budget.
BMTF has also demanded Tk78 crore from the EC as warehouse rent. However, there is no formal agreement between the EC and BMTF on the matter, and the commission has not yet paid the amount.
Commission sources said 2,217 EVMs remain unaccounted for. Although BMTF claims the machines were delivered, no proof has been found. The value of the missing machines exceeds Tk51.96 crore.
Meanwhile, fires in several warehouses have destroyed 157 EVMs, causing losses of about Tk3.67 crore.
Asked about the situation, Election Commissioner Anwarul Islam Sarker told TIMES of Bangladesh that EVMs were not used in the national election due to objections from political parties.
“Whether they will be used in local government elections will be decided by the commission,” he said, adding that the EC Secretariat is working on options for disposing of the machines.
“I am not aware of the current status,” he added.
Badiul Alam Majumdar, who headed the Electoral System Reform Commission during the interim government, said continuing to spend on EVMs after deciding not to use them is unjustified.
“It is difficult to understand why a decision is not being taken quickly. If the machines can be used for some other purpose, that could be considered. But if they cannot be used, spending public money on them is not appropriate,” he said.
Before the 11th parliamentary election, the Election Commission led by KM Nurul Huda launched a Tk3,825 crore project to procure EVMs.
The machines were purchased without a tender, with Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory assigned as the supplier. Each machine cost Tk2,34,374.
In the first phase, 82,000 machines were purchased for Tk1,921.8 crore.
Later, in 2019, another 34,000 machines were procured for Tk796.8 crore, followed by a further 34,000 machines in 2020 at the same cost.
However, the machines were used in only six constituencies during the 2018 parliamentary election. Although EVMs were later used in some local government elections, they were not used in the 12th parliamentary election due to objections from political parties.
After the change of government following the July uprising of 2024, the commission led by AMM Nasir Uddin decided not to use EVMs in the 13th parliamentary election.
To implement the decision, the Representation of the People Order, 1972 (RPO) was amended. The commission also announced that EVMs would not be used in local government elections.
