A total of 4,82,00,660 votes have been cast in favour of ‘Yes’ in the referendum held on the implementation of the July National Charter, alongside the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election.
In contrast, 2,20,71,726 votes were cast against the constitutional reform proposals, meaning ‘No’ votes, Election Commission (EC) Public Relations Director Md. Ruhul Amin Mollik said last night.
According to EC sources, the total number of valid votes in the referendum stood at 7, 02, 72,386, while 74, 22,637 votes were declared invalid.
Altogether, 7, 76, 95,023 ballots were cast in the referendum which represents 60.84 percent turnout.
At a briefing at the Election Commission Bhaban in Agargaon in the capital on Friday, Senior Secretary of the EC Secretariat Akhtar Ahmed said voter turnout in the referendum was slightly higher than that of the parliamentary election.
Explaining the reason, he said that although the results of two parliamentary constituencies in Chattogram – Chattogram-2 and Chattogram-4 – were suspended following a court order, there was no restriction on holding the referendum in those constituencies.
As a result, the votes cast there were included in the final referendum tally, he added.
Replying to a question regarding publication of the gazette, the senior secretary said the results of the parliamentary election and the referendum would be published in a single consolidated gazette.
He added that after receiving hard copies of the final results from returning officers and completing necessary scrutiny, the gazette would be issued at the earliest possible time.
