CUCSU Voting Concludes, Results Awaited

The voting for the Chittagong University Central Students’ Union (CUCSU) and hall union elections concluded on Wednesday at 4:00pm. Voters still in line at polling centres were allowed to cast their ballots post-4:00pm. Candidates and supporters are now gathered outside centres, awaiting results.

Chief Election Commissioner Md. Monir Uddin told The Daily Campus, “The voting ended peacefully and fairly at 4:00pm. Ballots will now be sorted and taken to the Dean’s office for counting in front of cameras.”

The election saw enthusiasm among voters throughout the day. However, complaints of irregularities, including unsigned ballots and erasable ink, were raised by Chatra Dal, Chhatra Shibir and other panels. Despite these, no major disruptions marred the process, marking a historic election after 35 years.

Voting began at 9:30am across five campus buildings and continued uninterrupted until 4:00pm, with those inside centres allowed to vote thereafter. The results will form a 26-member central union for one year, alongside unions for 14 halls and one hostel. Five CUCSU-nominated students will join the university’s Senate.

Per the constitution, only first-year students enrolled via admission tests and currently studying were eligible to vote, totaling 27,516 voters. Thirteen panels competed in the election.

The CUCSU ballot spans four pages, while hall and hostel ballots are one page each, listing candidates’ names and numbers. Voters marked circles to select candidates.

Ballots will be scanned as images, with parallel scanning by election officials and the university’s IT cell programmers. Results will be announced once both counts align.

At 4:00pm, a few voters were still waiting at the Science Faculty centre, with some arriving just before the cutoff. Chief Election Commissioner Professor Monir Uddin had clarified, “No matter how slow, we’ll take votes as long as voters are within the centre’s premises by 4:00pm.”

The voting schedule was set from 9:00am to 4:00pm, but started 30 minutes late, with visually impaired voters beginning at 11:30am. The election, free of major irregularities, marks a significant democratic milestone after 35 years.