The declining voter turnout in the upazila parishad elections is a concerning trend that reflects broader issues within Bangladesh’s political landscape, according to the Diplomat, an international current-affairs magazine.

A combination of factors, including perceived electoral irregularities, lack of genuine competition, and disenchantment with local governance, has eroded public trust in the electoral process.

The absence of major opposition parties, coupled with intra-party conflicts within the ruling Awami League, has further compounded this issue. As a result, voters are increasingly questioning the significance of their participation in what they view as a flawed system.

Registered voters, totaling approximately 121.8 million, were supposed to cast their votes for one chairperson and two vice chairpersons in the local election.

However, according to the Election Commission (EC), the voter turnout across all four phases averaged 35.8 percent: 36.1 percent in the first phase, 37.7 percent in the second, 35 percent in the third, and just 34.3 percent in the fourth.

A few months ago, in the national election on January 7, the voter turnout was only around 40 percent, according to the EC. However, critics and the opposition say the turnout was less even than the stated figure. The deserted environment visible at most polling places made it easy to criticize the turnout number given by the EC.

The scenario was different in 2009, when the government revived the upazila parishad elections after a long gap.

The historical trends in voter turnout reveal a fluctuating pattern. The year 2009 witnessed a robust participation rate of 70.6 percent, demonstrating a high level civic engagement. By 2014, this enthusiasm waned slightly turnout decreasing to 61.2 percent.

In the meantime, after the national election of 2008, Bangladesh’s political landscape changed significantly due to the AL government. Armed with a majority, the AL and its allies removed the caretaker government provision from the constitution in 2011.

Although the AL claimed that this was prompted by a verdict from the highest court, it is widely recognized that the removal of the provision was intended to establish the ruling party’s dominance and remove uncertainty regarding election results. Opposition parties, including the BNP, protested the passage of this amendment.

As a result, in the national poll of 2014, the election was held under the AL government, and in protest the main opposition and many other parties chose not to participate in the election. Things went as the AL planned. In the 2018 national election, the system was the same as there was no caretaker government.

That time, the BNP had to participate to keep its party registration. Few considered the polls free or fair, however. Year by year, Bangladesh slipped down in the world rankings of democratic indices.

Come 2019, a more significant downturn unfolded in the upazila election, particularly in the initial phase, where the turnout plummeted to 43.3 percent. This decline persisted across subsequent phases, culminating in an overall average turnout of approximately 40 percent for the year.

The notorious votes during the 2018 general election and the rushed convictions of opposition leaders before the 2024 general election have further fueled this mistrust. Consequently, voters now question the significance of their votes, suspecting that election outcomes are predetermined by those in power.

The people of Bangladesh used to be crazy about elections because of the festivities; however, this festive mood no longer exists in the country. “Even despite the open field where anyone can stand in the upazila election, however, there are still less candidates,” said Badiul Alam Majumdar, a good governance activists.

“The voting system in our country has been totally destroyed.”

The lack of participation by all political parties stands as one of the major reasons behind the rising voter apathy. When major parties boycott upazila elections, voter enthusiasm wanes. Additionally, the deteriorating law and order situation in some areas discourages citizens from visiting polling centers.