Voting in the 13th National Parliament Election began at 7:30am on Thursday, with polling underway across 299 constituencies amid tight security and high public anticipation.
The voting will continue uninterrupted until 4:30pm at 42,659 polling stations nationwide. The election in Sherpur-3 constituency has been postponed following the death of a candidate.
A total of 127,298,522 voters in 299 constituencies are eligible to cast their ballots. Of them, 64,620,077 are male voters, 62,677,232 female voters and 1,213 third-gender voters. The total number of voters across 300 constituencies stands at 127,711,899.
Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus is scheduled to cast his vote at 10am at Gulshan Model School and College centre in the capital, according to his press wing.
BNP Chairperson Tarique Rahman is expected to vote at the same centre between 9:30am and 10am, said Shamsuddin Didar of the BNP chairperson’s media wing.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman is set to cast his vote at Monipur centre at 8am.
Candidates in the race
A total of 2,028 candidates are contesting from 299 constituencies, including 1,755 nominated by 50 political parties and 273 independent candidates. Of the contestants, 81 are women.
BNP has fielded 291 candidates and is supporting allies in eight constituencies. Jamaat-e-Islami candidates are contesting in 228 constituencies and supporting allies in the remaining seats.
Other major parties in the race include Islami Andolan Bangladesh with 253 candidates, Jatiya Party with 192, Ganaodhikar Parishad with 90 and the National Citizen Party (NCP) with 32 candidates.
Security arrangements
Nearly 958,000 members of law enforcement agencies have been deployed across the country to ensure peaceful voting. They include members of the armed forces, police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Coast Guard and Ansar and VDP.
Additionally, around 2,100 executive magistrates and 657 judicial magistrates are on duty to oversee the enforcement of electoral laws.
According to the Election Commission, CCTV cameras have been installed at around 90% of polling stations. Body-worn cameras and drones are also being used in vulnerable centres.
Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said law enforcement agencies recovered around 850 weapons between December 13 and this week, suspecting they could have been used to disrupt the polls.
Despite a few isolated incidents, he said the overall law and order situation remains satisfactory.
CEC’s assurance
Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin on Wednesday reiterated the commission’s commitment to holding a peaceful, credible and participatory election.
“Transparency remains a cornerstone of our election management,” he said while briefing international observers and foreign journalists in the capital.
He said ballots are issued only after proper identification and voting is conducted by secret ballot in accordance with the law. Any disputes will be resolved through established legal procedures.
Around 330 international observers and more than 160 foreign journalists are monitoring the election, he added.
New features and postal voting
This election is being held simultaneously with a national referendum — a first in the country’s history.
An IT-supported hybrid postal ballot system has also been introduced. As of Wednesday afternoon, 1,138,192 voters had cast postal ballots, including 526,376 expatriates. Of the total, 963,318 ballots have already reached returning officers.
Postal voters include expatriates, government officials posted outside their constituencies, polling officials and eligible prisoners.
If any postal ballot does not reach the returning officer by 4:30pm on Thursday, it will not be counted, the EC said.
Polling process
Polling is being managed by 69 returning officers, 958 assistant returning officers, 43,078 presiding officers, 247,862 assistant presiding officers and over half a million polling officers.
Counting will begin at polling stations immediately after voting ends. Results will be announced at the centres and later consolidated and officially declared by the respective returning officers.
The EC expects most results to be available by midnight, except for a few remote polling stations.