The Election Commission (EC) is set to initiate the distribution of electoral materials in preparation for the upcoming 12th national parliamentary elections.
The materials – ballot boxes, bags and seals – will be dispatched to 10 regional offices, Ashok Kumar Debnath, additional secretary of the commission, confirmed on Thursday.
The initial phase involves the distribution of ballot boxes to the Dhaka region, while the transportation to other regions is scheduled for next week.
According to the commission, more than 300,000 transparent ballot boxes will be required for this election. But the commission had 267,000 boxes. So, 800,000 boxes were bought new.
In the first consignment, 40,000 boxes have been received by the commission.
Ashok Kumar said that the materials excluding ballot boxes have been sent to BSTI (Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution) for quality testing.
“We will send the materials to the Dhaka region when it arrives from BSTI.”
When asked about the security of election equipment, EC additional secretary said that there is no special plan.
“Like previous times, this time we will give the responsibility of security to the police while sending the materials. It is the responsibility of law enforcement to provide our security. We will seek assistance from the law enforcement agencies. They will provide proper security during field level transportation of goods.”
The next national elections will be held in the first week of January.
The exact date of polling is yet to be determined.
