Bangladesh voters list has 12 mln false names

BAGLADESH: Bangladesh's list of voters contains 12.2 million false names, a U.S.-based election monitor said on Saturday.

"Bangladesh's voters' list has approximately 12.2 million names which are either in error or are duplicates," a report by the Washington-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) said.

A 14-party alliance led by the Awami League of Sheikh Hasina has threatened a nationwide transport blockade, the third in three weeks, from Sunday. It has demanded a recasting of election schedules and an overhaul of voters' lists.

Owen Lippert, the NDI's resident representative in Bangladesh, said his group checked more than 22,000 names across the country and interviewed 11,000 people during a survey of voters ahead of an election set for January 21.

"The (NDI) delegation is deeply concerned that the new voters' list runs to over 93 million names, a size that is substantially inconsistent with the 2001 census data," Lippert told a news conference. "A voters' list containing two-thirds of the population strains credibility."

DHAKA, Sunday, Reuters