CEC to announce polls schedule today

The schedule for the upcoming 13th National Parliament elections and the July National Referendum will be announced on Thursday. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin will declare the schedule after 6:00 pm.

Senior Secretary of the Election Commission (EC), Akhtar Ahmed, confirmed the information on Wednesday (10 December) at the Agargaon Election Bhaban in Dhaka.

The EC Secretary said the schedule will cover all 300 constituencies. The CEC will address the nation and officially announce the schedule after 6:00 pm.

Ahead of the announcement, a five-member delegation led by CEC met with President Mohammed Sahabuddin on Wednesday afternoon. During the meeting, the CEC briefed the President on the progress of preparations for the elections. President Sahabuddin assured that necessary support would be provided to ensure the elections are free, fair, and meaningful.

The EC Secretary added that the meeting was held to update the President on pre-election preparations and related matters, including the status of the voter list.

“President enquired about how both the National Parliament election and the referendum will be conducted, how the ballot papers are being prepared, their colors, how each voter will receive a ballot paper, and the counting procedure. After we briefed him in detail, he expressed satisfaction,” Akhtar Ahmed said.

He also mentioned that the President welcomed the EC’s decision to extend voting hours by one hour—from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm.

According to an Election Commissioner, the voting date will be either 8 February or 12 February.