Staff Reporter :
The Advisory Council has given final approval to the draft of the Voter List (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, allowing eligible citizens to register as voters up until the announcement of the election schedule.
The draft ordinance was approved on Thursday at a meeting of the Advisory Council. Senior Assistant Press Secretary Fayez Ahmed briefed reporters on the council’s decisions at a press conference held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
Fayez Ahmed explained that under the current system, only those who turn 18 by December of the preceding year can be included when the voter list is updated in January.
Every year, the Election Commission publishes the draft voter list on 2 January and the final list on 2 March. As a result, citizens who reach the age of 18 after December are left out and must wait for the next update to cast their votes, which often prevents them from voting in the upcoming election.
“In reality, the Election Commission feels that the final voter list should include all eligible citizens who reach voting age before the announcement of the election schedule,” Fayez Ahmed said.
Giving an example, he explained that if an election is scheduled for February, the election schedule is usually announced two months earlier, in November. In such cases, citizens who turn 18 between January and November are left out of the voter list and miss the chance to vote.
Under the approved ordinance, if an election is held in December, citizens who turn 18 up to at least one month before the election schedule is announced will now be able to register and cast their vote.
“This will ensure that more young citizens do not miss the chance to participate in the democratic process simply because they turned 18 after the previous year’s cut-off date,” he added.
Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, Assistant Press Secretaries Suchismita Tithi and Naim Ali were also present at the briefing.
The new ordinance is expected to make the electoral process more inclusive by ensuring that all eligible new voters are brought into the electoral roll before the election date is fixed.
