The counting of ballots in Rajshahi University Central Students' Union (RUCSU), hall union and Senate student representative elections began at 8:30 PM on Thursday at Kazi Nazrul Islam Auditorium of Rajshahi University.
The process commenced with the ballot boxes from Mannujan Hall being opened first.
Ballot boxes from across the campus were brought to the auditorium shortly after voting ended at 4:00 PM, arriving by around 4:45 PM.
The boxes from Mannujan Hall were unsealed in front of polling officials and candidate agents at approximately 7:45 PM, after which counting began.
Election Commissioner Professor Mostafa Kamal Akande confirmed the start of the official vote count, stating that results would be processed sequentially hall by hall.
Professor Mamunur Rashid Khandaker, head of election's technical committee, said that in the evening, the OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) machines were tested in the presence of all candidate agents. A few sample ballots were scanned for demonstration, and results were shared with the agents to verify transparency.
“This was done to ensure that no doubts are raised about the results,” he said, adding that the process was designed to be free from confusion or suspicion.
The entire counting process is being broadcast live on large digital screens both at the auditorium and the university’s Shaheed Minar, allowing students, university officials, accredited observers and media personnel to monitor in real time.
On-site, six OMR machines were seen set up on the auditorium stage; one for each of the six ballots. Ballot boxes from each hall were neatly arranged in front of the stage.
Each box is being opened in front of the respective presiding officers, returning officers, polling staff and candidates' agents, with the proceedings projected on a big screen for observers.
This year’s RUCSU election includes 28,901 registered voters, with 17 polling centres across nine academic buildings.
A total of 305 candidates are contesting for 23 central RUCSU positions, including key posts such as Vice President (VP) and General Secretary (GS).
For the Senate student representative seats, 58 candidates are running for five available positions.
In the 17 hall unions, 555 candidates are competing for 255 posts. Among the total voters, 39.10% are women, while 60.90% are men.
SH
