The voting for the mach-awaited Rajshahi University Central Students’ Union (Rucsu), hall union, and student senate elections concluded on Thursday afternoon.
Students began casting their votes at 9am at 990 booths across 17 centres in nine academic buildings amid tight security. The balloting continued until 4pm.
The results will be announced after the counting is completed.
A total of 247 candidates were competing for 23 Rucsu posts, 58 for five Senate positions, and 597 for 15 hall union roles.
Approximately 47% of votes were cast in the first four and a half hours of the Rucsu, hall union, and student senate elections.
The information was confirmed on Thursday afternoon, based on updates from several presiding officers.
As of 1:30pm, voter turnout by hall was as follows, 41% at Shaheed Habibur Rahman Hall, 55% at Sher-e Bangla Fazlul Haque Hall, 35% at Shaheed Suhrawardy Hall, 45% at Shaheed Shamsuzzoha Hall, 55% at Rahmatunnnesa Hall, 35% at Madar Bux Hall, 45% at Mannujan Hall, 56% at Begum Khaleda Zia Hall, and 57% at Tapashi Rabeya Hall.
A total of 28,901 students are eligible to vote for 918 candidates across 17 polling centres.
Visiting a polling centre, RU Vice-Chancellor Professor Saleh Hasan Naqib said student turnout was highly encouraging.
The administration has taken all necessary steps to ensure a fair and transparent election, he added.
Based on past student elections at other universities, he expressed hope that overall turnout could exceed 70%.
