Balloting in Cumilla City Corporation, which began on Wednesday morning, is progressing peacefully amid reports of technical fault in voting machines in a couple of centres and slow voting.

Independent candidate and immediate-past mayor Monirul Haque Sakku cast his vote around 9 am at Hossamia High School in the city.

Talking to reporters, Sakku said he is hopeful about his victory if the election becomes held free and fair.

Expressing satisfaction over the overall election environment, Awami League candidate Arfanul Haque Rifat said he is also hopeful about his victory.

Rifat cast his vote at Cumilla Victoria Collegiate High School around 9:15 am.

Later, Mohammad Nizam Uddin Kaiser, an independent candidate and local MP AKM Bahauddin Bahar also cast their vote at the same centre.

A large number of voters were seen standing in long queues to cast their votes despite rain in the morning.

Presiding Officer of Cumilla High School under No 5 Ward, Fazlul Karim, said voting at the polling centre disrupted for 42 minutes due to technical fault at Electronic Voting Machine.

Read: Voting underway in Cumilla City polls

The EVM machine of no 1 booth out of the six booths at the centre went out of order, halting vote casting.

Later, the balloting at the center started after 42 minutes after a technical team repaired the machine and changed it.

The centre is set for female voters and one vote was cast in 51 minutes due to a technical fault.

Arpana Sen, a voter, said “I managed to stand in the queue around 7:30 am but failed to proceed further for a long time.”

During a visit to Reazuddin Government Primary School, this correspondent found that some people wearing boat badges thronged the polling centre. Asked about the presence of many people at a centre, Abdul Kuddus, who was among them, said they are there to help people cast their vote easily.

Contacted, Returning officer of Cumilla City Corporation Election, Shahedunnabi Chowdhury, said they are investigating the incident.

Presiding Officer of the polling centre, Hafizur Rahman, said “No untoward incident occurred till 12 pm and the voters are casting their votes in a peaceful manner.”

The voting began at 8am and will continue until 4pm without any break.

A total of 2,29,920 voters will exercise their voting right through EVM in 105 centres. There are 640 booths in 105 polling stations.

Five candidates are vying for the office of mayor.

It is the third election of the Cumilla City Corporation after its formation in 2011 while for the first under the new Election Commission, which will be conducted through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in its entirety.

Law enforcement agencies have mounted tight security measures to ensure peaceful holding of  much talked-about polls, said superintendent of Cumilla Police Faruk Ahmed on Tuesday.

The whole city has been brought under security blanket, he said while speaking at a press briefing on law and order situation ahead of the polls at Language Movement Hero Dhrirendanath Datta Stadium.

Read: Sakku’s hat-trick or Rifat’s first?

The law enforcement agencies have done whatever is needed to ensure security and at least 75 check-posts were installed in the city, he said.

Over 3,600 members of law enforcement agencies have already been deployed in the field to maintain law and order, he added.

The last Cumilla city election was held on Mar 30, 2017. BNP leader Monirul Haque Sakku was elected mayor for the second term.