Election Commission has suspended 44 centres voting for the by-election to Gaibandha-5 (Saghata-Fulchhari) constituency on Wednesday.
EC Public Relations Director Md. Asadul Haque said the regulator decided to halt voting at 44 centres at 12 pm after noticing various irregularities in the electoral process this afternoon.
The Election Commission has been monitoring the election, which began at 8 am on Wednesday, through CCTV cameras installed at 145 polling centres.
Voters have been casting ballots using electronic voting machines, but complaints were raised that some people had secretly accessed the stations and cast votes on behalf of others.
Assistant Returning Officer Abdul Muttalib said the voting will continue until 4:00pm without any interruptions at other stations.
The parliamentary seat was declared vacant following the death of Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi on Jul 23. Although the by-election is of a relatively small scale, the EC took all measures to ensure a fair electoral process, the CEC said.
Five candidates are contesting for the Gaibandha-5 seat in parliament.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
