Referendum Sees 4.82cr ‘Yes’ Votes, Turnout 60.84%

More than 4.82 crore voters cast their ballots in favour of ‘Yes’ in the referendum held alongside the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election on the implementation of the July National Charter.

In contrast, 2,20,71,726 voters voted ‘No’ against the proposed constitutional reforms, said Md. Ruhul Amin Mollik, Public Relations Director of the Election Commission.

According to official figures, the total number of valid votes stood at 7,02,72,386, while 74,22,637 ballots were declared invalid. Overall, 7,76,95,023 votes were cast in the referendum, marking a turnout of 60.84 per cent.

Briefing journalists at the Election Commission Bhaban in Agargaon on Friday, Senior Secretary of the EC Secretariat Akhtar Ahmed said turnout in the referendum was slightly higher than that of the parliamentary election.

He explained that although voting in two parliamentary constituencies in Chattogram—Chattogram-2 and Chattogram-4—was suspended following a court order, there was no restriction on holding the referendum in those areas. Votes cast there were therefore included in the final referendum count.

Responding to a query about the publication of the gazette, Ahmed said the results of both the parliamentary election and the referendum would be published together in a single consolidated gazette.

He added that the gazette would be issued as soon as hard copies of the final results are received from returning officers and the required scrutiny is completed.