The officials in many areas could not even start the job due to lack of preparation.

EC Secretariat officials said they were frustrated at the response on the first day of the revision task undertaken despite opposition from the political parties, civil society and professional bodies.

Acting Secretary of the EC Secretariat Mohammad Zakoria described the people's response so far as 'little'. "We hope it will be different tomorrow as we are working to persuade them to be on the list," he told The Daily Star at the ward commissioner's office [ward No 33] in Motijheel area.

People who went to Assistant Registration Officer's (ARO) office to collect voters' forms lost their enthusiasm when they learned that a raft of documents is required to be registered as a voter.

"I don't feel like being listed as a voter after submitting so many weird documents," Nazrul Islam, maintenance technician of SQ Garments, told The Daily Star at ARO office at Sheorapara in Mirpur.

When Nazrul came to the office to collect the forms required to include his name in the voter roll yesterday, ARO Tofazzel Hossain asked him to submit a number of documents like receipt of municipal tax or house rent or payment to local guards, and an affidavit of proof of age or an attested copy of SSC certificate along with the application form.

Some district election officers said they could not begin the work at the Union Parishad level for inadequate preparation. Besides, many AROs who are government officials did not work yesterday, as they preferred to enjoy the weekend.

"I waited whole day at my office but none came to collect the forms. Four other election officers informed me that no one came to them as well," a district election officer told The Daily Star yesterday.

Another officer said, "A Thana election officer in my district told me that two or three people came to his office to enquire about the method. But they did not collect any form."

In Khulna City Corporation, only one person came to pick up the designated forms although 35 offices of ward commissioners remained open for distributing those, our correspondent from Khulna quoted the district election officer as saying.

So far, 23 people collected forms to have their names on the voter list at Panchlaish and Doublemooring while many offices of the ward commissioners in Chittagong City Corporation were not supplied with the forms till yesterday, our correspondent reports.

In the capital, 90 officials at 90 wards of the city corporation have been engaged to assist the AROs assigned to distribute the forms, sources at the EC Secretariat said.

The acting secretary of the EC Secretariat along with the Secretariat officials was waiting since yesterday morning for people to collect the forms, but to little avail. While visiting several offices of the ward commissioners, this correspondent found almost all of them empty.

Although it was a weekly holiday, a very few people turned up to the offices of the ward commissioners and AROs in the capital to collect forms yesterday. None was reported to have applied for amendment, correction and deletion of names from the existing voter list.

Former election commissioner M Munsef Ali said people would not be interested in getting listed as voters because the EC has taken a wrong approach to updating the roll. "They [people] are simply not accustomed to the new system," he told The Daily Star.

Shajahan Chowdhury, assistant headmaster of Mirpur Shaheed Smriti High School and ARO, told The Daily Star, "The procedure is complicated compared with the previous ones. It will be very difficult for people to submit all the required documents."

ARO Tofazzel Hossain, who has experience in voter listing, said the new system is a bit difficult. He said two people took the forms, but none came to collect forms for deleting name of any fake voters from the list.

Talking to the reporters, ARO MA Mannan, a teacher of Mirpur Bangla High School, said he went to the office of the ward [No 5] commissioner to distribute the voters' forms, but found the office closed.

Mirpur Thana Election Officer Jasimuddin who was present at the office of the commissioner of ward No 14 told The Daily Star that they have launched a campaign urging those who are not registered as voters yet to collect the forms.

Abdul Quader, commissioner of ward No 14, blasted the EC for adopting 'such a lengthy and strict procedure' for updating the existing voter list. "Now even if they (EC staff) visit door to door, they won't get such a whole lot of documents. And the initiative is bound to fall flat," he told reporters at his office.

"I own a building where many people live. And I never give them any receipt for their house rent. Then how will they submit such documents," he questioned.

Mahfuzur Rahman, a garment worker, collected forms from the office of Abdul Quader, but declined to submit the forms with so many documents. "It's not possible for me to collect the documents," he told reporters.

DOCUMENTS AND AN EXCEPTION
As per the EC's decision, an eligible person, whose name is not on the existing voter list, will have to apply in form-7 with a raft of documents.

He will be provided with form-2 for inclusion of his name in the voter list only if the RO and ARO are satisfied with the application.

The form-7 calls for the intending voter to submit a receipt of municipal tax or house rent or payment to local guards to prove his locality, and an affidavit of proof of age or an attested copy of the SSC certificate with the application.

Referring to the form-7, many ROs and AROs yesterday said they would not receive any application without supporting documents with the form prescribed.

"As I have to follow the procedure, I will not receive any form unless anyone submits the required documents with the form," said ARO Tofazzel Hossain, also the headmaster of Haji Asraf High School at Sheorapara in Mirpur.

Acting secretary to the EC Secretariat Mohammad Zakoria, however, yesterday allowed an ARO to receive applications without the required documents.

"Every one in this area is known to me. So, they don't need to submit any documents," ARO Sahidur Rahman, also assistant headmaster of Motijheel Colony Government High School, told The Daily Star yesterday. Sahidur Rahman received an application form for inclusion of name in the existing voter list without any required documents.

Zakoria, who was present at the office of the commissioner of ward No 33 of Dhaka City Corporation to supervise the task, supported the ARO.

An ARO can receive the application form for inclusion of names in the voter list if he thinks the applicant is genuine, the acting secretary said.