Voter turnout in the fifth phase of the Upazila Parishad elections went up from the fourth phase, but still fell behind the first three rounds.
The polls, held on Monday at 73 Upazilas in 34 districts, saw a 60.89 percent turnout, said the Election Commission.
Voter turnout rate was going up in the first to third phases, but went down in the fourth round.
The first leg recorded 62.44 percent turnout, the second 63.31 percent and the third round 63.52 percent. But the violence-riddled fourth phase saw only a 56.12 percent voting.The fifth phase polls had 13,891,992 voters, of whom 8,459,509 turned up to vote, while 317,112 votes were cancelled.
The highest turnout was in Madarganj Upazila in Jamalpur with 87.24 percent. The lowest was at Trishal Upazila in Mymensingh at 44.22 percent.
Although the fifth phase was peaceful compared to the fourth, many incidents such as seizure of voting centres and widespread stuffing of ballot boxes have been reported.
After the fifth phase, polling has been completed in 459 out of 487 Upazilas.
The fourth Upazila elections began on Feb 19 with voting in 97 Upazilas. The second phase was held on Feb 27 in 116 Upazilas, the third phase on Mar 15 in 81 and the fourth phase in 91 Upazilas.
Another 22 Upazilas will go to vote in the sixth phase, which the EC has hinted may be held in July-August. In six Upazilas, the incumbent Upazila Parishads, are yet to complete their terms.-bdnews24.com
