The much-anticipated Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu) and hall union elections will be held tomorrow, with 471 candidates contesting 28 positions in Ducsu. Among them, 62 are women.

A record 45 candidates are running for the the vice president (VP) post, including five women. For the general secretary (GS) post, 19 contenders are in the race, while 25 candidates will compete for assistant general secretary (AGS). Thirteen member posts have attracted 217 candidates, of whom 23 are women.

The number of female candidates remains low in most executive positions. No woman is contesting for the posts of international affairs secretary and transport secretary. However, there is one woman candidate each for GS, science and technology secretary, and sports secretary. The highest concentration of women candidates is for the common room, reading room, and cafeteria secretary posts, where nine out of 11 contenders are female.

This year, Ducsu ballots will have five pages, while hall union ballots will be one page. Voters will cast their votes on Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets.

Alongside Ducsu, elections will also take place in 18 hall unions for 13 posts each. A total of 1,035 candidates are running for hall union posts. Altogether, each voter will have to cast 41 votes tomorrow.

According to the commission, there are 39,773 registered voters in the Ducsu polls -- 20,871 male and 18,902 female.

Jagannath Hall has the highest number of male voters with 2,222, while Rokeya Hall accounts for the largest female electorate with 5,641.

Voting will be conducted at eight centres across the campus with 810 booths in total.

For male students, the designated centres are: Curzon Hall (for Dr Muhammad Shahidullah Hall, Amar Ekushey Hall, Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall); Physical Education Centre (for Jagannath Hall, Shahid Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall, Salimullah Muslim Hall); Senate Building (for Sir AF Rahman Hall, Haji Muhammad Mohsin Hall, Bijoy Ekattor Hall); and Udayan School and College (for Surya Sen Hall, Muktijoddha Ziaur Rahman Hall, Kabi Jasimuddin Hall, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall).

For female students, four centres have been set up: TSC (for Rokeya Hall); Dhaka University Club (for Bangladesh-Kuwait Maitree Hall, Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall); Geology Department (for Kabi Sufia Kamal Hall); and University Laboratory School and College (for Shamsunnahar Hall).

Despite the election commission's assurance, several candidates have expressed concerns over the limited number of centres and booths, alleging that the arrangement was designed to hinder smooth voting.

The commission, however, maintains that even if each voter takes 10 minutes, all ballots can be cast within the allotted time from 8:00am to 4:00pm without disruption.