Dhaka: Mentioning that the casting of vote openly is illegal, Election Commissioner Rafiqul Islam on Saturday instructed the election officials not to allow such practice during the upcoming national election.

‘Someone may say I’ll cast my vote in public after you give him/her a ballot paper. Please don’t allow anyone to do this,’ he said while speaking at a training session arranged for the government officials, who will train the presiding officers, at Nirbachan Bhaban in the city, reports the UNB.

The election commissioner told the attendees to convey his message to the presiding and assistant presiding officers while giving them training. ‘Don’t allow it as such act is illegal and may raise questions about the election process, too.’

‘Sometimes we see in media that some voters say their votes have already been cast although they didn’t exercise their franchise. If the officers perform their duty properly, it’ll not be possible for anyone to cast other’s vote,’ he said.

Mentioning that election duty means a duty for a day only, Rafiqul said, ‘We all will be questioned if the election is not held in a proper way. If you perform your duty properly, no one will be able raise any question.’

Giving assurance to the trainers that members of law enforcement agencies will always be engaged with the election process, he further said, ‘Please don’t get worried about your safety. From guard to army, everyone will be in the election process.’

To maintain peace and the law and order, everyone should keep in contact constantly with law enforcement agencies, said the commissioner. ‘You’re real executors of the election. The Election Commission and the secretariat just make the election plan. Our honour is fully dependent on you as you’ll perform all the election duties,’ he further said.