Results of the long-awaited Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JUCSU) election are expected to be announced between 8pm and 10pm today.

The Election Commission member secretary, Prof AKM Rashidul Alam, made the announcement.

Vote counting of the election began on the night of September 11. The election ended amid allegations of ballot stuffing and administrative bias.

The voting began at 9am on Thursday and was scheduled to end at 5pm. In some centers, voting had ended later than scheduled. As of Friday afternoon, vote counting was still underway.

A total of 11,743 students were eligible to cast their votes in the election, with turnout reaching around 67-68 percent.

A total of eight full and partial panels contested this year’s JUCSU election, though several later pulled out of the race.

Namaz-e-janaza of JU teacher to be held after Jumma prayers

The panels that boycotted the polls include the BNP-backed Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Sampritir Oikya, Swatantra Angikar Parishad, Songshoptak Parishad, and candidates from the Socialist Student Front. Some independent candidates also withdrew from the election.

Among those who stayed in the race were the Jamaat-backed Islami Chhatra Shibir-supported “Combined Students’ Alliance,” the “Student Unity Forum” backed by Ganatantrik Chhatra Sansad, and the independent “Students’ Sammilon” led by former coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, Abdur Rashid Jitu.

This year, 177 candidates contested 25 posts in the central union. Nine candidates vied for the position of vice president (VP), while eight competed for the general secretary (GS) post.

In the women’s 10 residential halls, 59 out of 150 posts had no candidates, while 67 posts had only one candidate each, resulting in elections being held for just 24 posts. In two of the university’s 21 halls, all candidates were elected unopposed.