The EC officials yesterday looked into the paperwork of voter ID card project and discussed its different aspects amongst themselves, EC sources said.

Acting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice Mahfuzur Rahman on Monday said the EC had a discussion with the chief adviser about the voter list. The CEC, however, did not reveal anything else about their discussions.

"Primary discussions were held on the voter ID card project," said an EC official wishing anonymity, adding, "The EC just looked into the previous files and paperwork of voter ID card project."

Emerging from an EC meeting, Acting CEC Mahfuzur Rahman told the reporters that they are reorganising their records as the elections have been postponed.

The acting CEC refused to talk about what was discussed in the meeting. He earlier told a number of reporters that the EC's efforts at holding talks with the major political parties are on.

In 1994, the relevant laws were amended so that no voter was allowed to vote unless he or she had a valid voter identity card. The commission launched a scheme worth approximately Tk 200 crore to introduce voter ID cards across the country on January 1,1995. But the project failed to achieve its goal due to some irregularities.

With about a third of the work done, the EC announced the schedule for the June, 1996 parliamentary elections and suspended its work on the voter ID cards. The project was cancelled altogether in 2000 in the face of allegations of gross corruption and reports of fake voters receiving voter ID cards.

In June 2003, the EC held a meeting with the Electronic Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL), which offered to help introduce electronic voting machines in Bangladesh. This project was, however, not approved.