The Election Commission (EC) has issued contradictory statements on carrying mobile phones to election centres during the next polls slated for December 30. Election commissioner Kabita Khanam at an interactive meeting in Munshiganj yesterday said voters would not be allowed to carry their mobile phones to election centres while going to cast votes.

But another election commissioner, Brig. Gen. (retd) Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury, did not directly say that voters could not carry their mobile phones to polling centres. Instead, he discouraged the voters from doing so to prevent any irregularities during the election. Many voters said they might not go to vote if

restrictions were imposed on carrying their mobile phones inside the polling centre. “We will not allow anybody to use mobile phones at election centres. We have taken steps to resist irregularities during the election,” Shahadat Hossain told The Independent yesterday.

“We have experience that many voters take snaps of ballot papers while they cast their votes. Anything like this may create anarchy. So, we’re discouraging voters to carry mobile phones inside the polling centre,” he said.

He, however, agreed that mobile phones had become part of modern life. The measure is being taken to ensure a trouble-free election, he stressed.