The vote counting in the Rajshahi University Central Students’ Union (RUCSU) election began on Thursday afternoon after the long-awaited polling ended amid a peaceful manner.
Official results are expected to be announced within 15 to 17 hours of the election, according to election officials.
Balloting of RUCSU began at 9am and continued until 4pm.
After visiting several centres while briefing media at Zubery Bhaban on Thursday morning, RU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr. Saleh Hasan Naqib expressed optimism that the voter turnout would reach 70 percent.
Thanking all for their cooperation, the VC said the voting was being held peacefully and no reports of an unexpected incident was found.
This marked the 17th RUCSU election in the 72-year history of RU.
No student union polls have been held at RU since 1990.
After several delays and rescheduled dates, students finally exercised their voting rights to elect their representatives.
Voting took place in 17 centres across nine academic buildings, with a total of 990 booths.
The university authority said they have procured a sufficient number of watermark reader machines for vote counting.
The election activities are being monitored through CCTV cameras, and transparent ballot boxes were used.
Though the university administration listed 28,901 students as voters, with 11,305 female and 17,595 male students respectively, it is yet to be known how many students cast their votes.
This time, 247 candidates are contesting 23 posts in the central RUCSU election, while 58 candidates are vying for five seats in the university senate.
For the hall union polls, 597 candidates are contesting 252 posts across 17 residential halls, with 42 candidates elected unopposed.
In the central RUCSU race, 18 candidates are running for vice president (VP), 13 for general secretary (GS), and 16 for assistant general secretary (AGS).
For security, around 2,000 police personnel, along with six platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and 12 teams of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), have been deployed to avoid untoward incidents.
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