DHAKA, Mar 01, 2022 (BSS) - President M Abdul Hamid today hoped that the

Election Commission (EC) would discharge its duty sincerely.  

  "I hope that the Election Commission of Bangladesh will fulfill its
responsibility to continue the progress of democracy in the country," he
said, in a message on the occasion of the National Voters' Day-2022 to be
observed tomorrow.  

  It is the responsibility of the Bangladesh Election Commission to ensure
smooth conduct of elections at all levels including local government polls
and national election, the head of the state said.  

  The president said EC has started using digital technology in its service-
activities and electronic voting machines in the voting system and those
steps are helpful to hold a fair and acceptable election.  

   In a democratic society, a voter exercises his or her constitutional
rights to vote and participates in the running of the state through his or her
elected representatives, he said, adding that the role of EC is very
important in this process.  

  The Election Commission has been updating the voter list on a regular basis
by including the names of eligible voters in the voter list by deleting the
names of the deceased voters and transferring the names of the transferred
voters to their respective constituencies, he continued.  

  In continuation of that, the publication of the final list of voters under
the update programme (of voter list) on National Voters' Day is a commendable
achievement, he said.   

  Apart from voter registration, the EC also caters national identity cards
to the citizens, Hamid said, adding that demographic and other biometric
information, including photographs and fingerprints of all citizens above 18
years of age, are stored in a computer-based database that is used by various
government and non-government service providers to verify citizen's identity.  

  The president hoped that the EC will continue its efforts to prepare
accurate voter lists and provide accurate and timely services regarding
national identity card.