JUCSU elections: Vote counting drags on with no conclusion yet

Vote counting for the Jahangirnagar University Central Students' Union (JUCSU) and hall union elections is still underway and may continue throughout the day, an election official said Friday morning.

The official, seeking anonymity, added that the final results could be announced later tonight. Counting has so far been completed in 11 hall unions, while the process continues for the remaining 10. However, counting for the 21 halls under JUCSU is yet to begin, suggesting the tallying may stretch late into the night.

Voting concluded at 5:45pm on Thursday amid allegations of irregularities, mismanagement, and boycotts by several panels, including the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD)-backed panel.

Tanzila Hossain Boishakhi, JCD’s general secretary candidate, said they withdrew after polling officers allegedly allowed Islami Chhatra Shibir activists into centres an hour before voting began. She claimed Shibir supporters were involved in ballot stuffing and that some female activists cast multiple votes.

Three teachers reportedly sympathetic to the BNP—Prof Shamima Sultana, Nazrul Islam, and Nahrin Khan—resigned from their election duties, also citing widespread irregularities.

The Songsoptok Parshad panel—formed by factions of Chhatra Front and Chhatra Union—likewise pulled out, condemning the process as “rigged and unfair” in an official statement Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, JCD activists staged a protest march and rally on campus Thursday night demanding fresh elections for both JUCSU and the hall unions. The march began around 9:30pm at the New Arts Faculty and ended at Chourangi, passing the JUCSU election commission office and Transport Square, with protesters chanting slogans such as “Fraudulent JUCSU, we will not accept” and “Boycott JUCSU.”

Earlier in the day, voting had started at 9am in a festive atmosphere, with 178 candidates contesting 25 JUCSU posts. Nearly 1,200 police personnel were deployed across the campus to maintain order.