A peaceful polling process for the Jagannath University Central Student Union (JnUCSU) has stalled during the counting phase. A discrepancy involving a single vote has suspended operations for over two hours as university authorities work to verify the results.
“We have encountered a problem and are seeking a solution. We hope everyone will accept the resolution we propose,” Election Commissioner and Law Professor Md. Shahidul Islam told reporters Tuesday at 8:45 p.m.
Voting for the central student union and a hall representative concluded at 4:00 p.m. All ballot boxes were moved to the university’s central auditorium for processing. Counting began at 6:30 p.m. using six Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) machines.
The process faced initial delays after just 15 minutes when overcrowding forced officials to clear the auditorium. Counting resumed 30 minutes later, only to be halted again at 7:00 p.m. when the discrepancy was detected. As of 9:00 p.m., the count remained suspended.
According to an official involved in the process, the issue arose during a verification check of ballots from the Geography and Environment Department. Officials first processed the ballots through three OMR machines, then ran them through three additional machines to ensure accuracy. When the two sets of machines produced a one-vote difference, the commission paused the count to investigate the technical error.
Addressing the gathered crowd via microphone at 9:00 p.m., Prof. Shahidul stated, “We are working to adjust the counting for the second round. We will identify where the error occurred and update everyone shortly.”
