EC assures stable law and order on polling day
Staff Reporter :
Election Commissioner (retd) Brigadier General Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said that all preparations for the 13th parliamentary election and referendum have been completed, assuring that the overall law and order situation remains stable ahead of voting on February 12.
Speaking to journalists at the Election Commission (EC) secretariat on Tuesday, Sanaullah said voting will take place from 7:30am to 4:30pm, with voters standing in line at closing time allowed to cast their ballots.
EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed was present at the briefing.
The commissioner said polling will be held in 299 constituencies instead of 300, as voting in Sherpur-3 has been postponed following the death of a candidate. A total of 2,028 candidates are contesting the election, including nominees from 50 political parties and independent candidates. Among them are 81 women candidates.
According to the EC, Bangladesh has more than 127.7 million registered voters, including about 64.8 million men and 62.8 million women.
Voting will be conducted at 42,958 polling centres nationwide, with around half marked as important or high-risk. Sanaullah said nearly 958,000 members of law enforcement agencies have been deployed to ensure security, alongside 2,100 executive magistrates and 657 judicial magistrates.
The commission is also using new monitoring tools this time, including drones, body-worn cameras, and CCTV systems. More than 25,000 body cameras will be in use, while over 90 percent of polling centres will be covered by CCTV cameras. Drones, or UAVs, will be used for the first time to monitor polling activities.
He added that law enforcement agencies recovered more than 850 illegal weapons over the past two months, which he said could help prevent potential violence. For postal voting, 703,000 ballot papers have already been delivered to returning officers, with the remaining ballots expected to arrive on time.
The election will use two separate ballots: a white ballot for the parliamentary election and a pink ballot for the referendum. Sanaullah said the results of both ballots will be counted and announced together to avoid confusion or unrest.
The EC has accredited more than 45,000 observers and nearly 10,000 journalists for the polls. Of them, 45,330 are local observers, about 350 are foreign observers, and around 9,700 are domestic and international journalists.
A total of 156 foreign journalists have registered to cover the election.
The commissioner said over 300 cases has been filed so far over election-related offences, while more than 500 investigations have already been completed. He warned that campaigning using religious sentiments would invite legal action.
Journalists will be allowed to take photos and videos at polling centres, he said, but entry into voting booths, live broadcasting, and voter interviews will be prohibited. Mobile phone use inside voting booths will also be strictly banned.
Calling on political parties, candidates, voters, and citizens, the Election Commission urged everyone to act responsibly to ensure a peaceful, fair, and festive election.