UPDATE - Bangladeshi general elections see 40% voter turnout: Officials

UPDATES WITH VOTER TURNOUT; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE, BODY

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – The Bangladeshi electoral authority registered a 40% turnout in general elections on Sunday amid boycott and shutdown.

Chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal attributed the low voter turnout to the opposition boycott.

"A large group boycotted the election which caused the low voter turnout. The election acceptance in home and abroad will be understood after the full election result comes," he told reporters in the capital Dhaka.

The voting, which began at 8 a.m. (0200GMT), continued until 4 p.m. (1000GMT). Around 120 million voters were registered to take part in polls to elect 300 lawmakers to the parliament, locally known as the Sansad.

There were reports of violence in 37 regions throughout the country, with five people arrested, according to the election authority.

A ruling party supporter was hacked to death in the central Munshiganj-3 constituency on Sunday, local television Channel 24 reported.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the election was held peacefully and fair, and that her party would return to power for the fourth time in a row.

However, opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Standing Committee member Abdul Moin Khan described the election as a farce to the nation, claiming that the low voter turnout is a clear indication of the process.

The ruling Awami League party and its ally Jatiya Party have their candidates standing in elections, and the main opposition BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami party have boycotted the polls.

Their candidates did not file any nomination for the elections.

Awal said it deployed a total of 800,000 members of law enforcement, including armed forces, in a total of 42,000 polling centers to ensure a peaceful election.​​​​​​​