Major changes ahead in appointment of election officials: CEC

NN Online:
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin has announced sweeping changes in how election officials, including returning and presiding officers, will be appointed for upcoming national polls to reduce electoral irregularities.

In an exclusive interview with BBC Bangla, the CEC said that for the first time, Election Commission (EC) officials may replace district commissioners (DCs) as returning officers in some constituencies. Additionally, significant changes are being introduced in the appointment process of presiding officers.

“Certain presiding and polling officers have previously been involved in vote manipulation. We’re taking steps to ensure such individuals are not appointed again,” Nasir Uddin stated. He noted that the EC has already begun identifying such officials and is considering deploying bank officers, who are typically outside the influence of political or administrative networks.

Regarding expatriate voters, the CEC confirmed that overseas Bangladeshis will be able to vote via postal ballots for the first time. After evaluating four methods, the EC has selected postal voting as the most feasible option. Interested expatriates will need to pre-register through an upcoming online platform designed to verify their status and collect preferences.

Ballot papers will then be sent to registered voters abroad. However, the process is expected to be expensive — around BDT 5,000 per vote via DHL or FedEx. The EC is also working with the government postal service, which has agreed to ensure faster delivery at a reduced cost of about BDT 700 per vote.

“From the schedule announcement to election day, we have only about 12 days to print and send ballots, receive them back, and count them,” the CEC explained. He admitted that there may be a 24% system loss due to the tight timeline but emphasized that the EC is determined to involve as many expatriates as possible in the process.

On whether EC officials will replace DCs as returning officers entirely, Nasir Uddin clarified: “Only qualified EC officers will be considered. In some areas, we’ll rely on our own staff; in others, we’ll still appoint DCs. Competence will be the key criterion.”