The Election Commission (EC) has finalized the schedule of voting for the 50 reserved seats for women in the 12th parliament on March 14.
Election Commission Secretary Jahangir Alam announced the schedule on Tuesday after a meeting held at the Election Bhaban in Agargaon, Dhaka.
According to the announced schedule, nominations for the reserved women's seats in the 12th parliament must be submitted on February 18, from 9am to 4pm.
The EC will scrutinize the nomination papers on February 19 and 20.
The candidates can submit appeals on February 22 while the EC will resolve the issues by February 24.
The deadline to withdraw candidacy is February 25, symbols will be allocated on February 27, and voting takes place on March 14, from 8am to 4pm.
Election Commission Joint Secretary Moniruzzaman serves as the returning officer for this election.
Regarding allocating 50 reserved women's seats, said: “Independent candidates have joined the Awami League for their portion of women candidates. The Jatiya Party (JaPa) will contest alone in their 11 seats. As a result, by law, the JaPawill get two seats and the Awami League, along with independents and their 14-party alliance, will get 48 seats. Following this division, nominations will be submitted and scrutinized accordingly.”
By law, reserved women's seats are allocated based on the general election results.
Parties nominate candidates for their share of seats. Therefore, voting is usually not needed for reserved seats. After the deadline for withdrawing candidacy, the nominated candidates by the parties are declared winners. The EC then publishes the results in the gazette.