The youths who will turn 18 by October 31, 2025, will be able to exercise their voting rights in the next parliamentary election—slated for February 2026—as the Election Commission (EC) has decided to incorporate them in the voter list.
The decision came from a meeting of the EC held at Nirbachan Bhaban in Dhaka on Thursday, with Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin in the chair.
“The Commission has primarily taken a decision to include those who will turn 18 by October 31, 2025, in the voter list,” Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Abdul Fazal Md Sanaullah told reporters after the meeting.
He said the decision is expected to add an estimated 1,800,000 – 2,000,000 new voters to the electoral roll.
Sanaullah also said the commission finalized the Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Candidates, 2025, during the meeting.
Earlier, on June 19, the EC approved the draft code in principle and later invited public opinion on it after publishing the draft online on June 29.
“The draft code of conduct for candidates and parties, on which we sought (public) opinion after uploading it online, has been finalized today,” he added.
The meeting also discussed proposed amendments to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), 1972, as well as issues related to out-of-country voting for expatriate Bangladeshis and postal balloting—for both overseas and domestic voters.