Amid widespread uncertainty surrounding the 13th national parliamentary elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin recently met with Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus. Since then, the Election Commission (EC) has intensified its preparations.

Key tasks such as amending the Representation of the People Order (RPO), registering political parties, and redrawing parliamentary boundaries have regained momentum.

On 26 June, the CEC made a sudden visit to the Chief Adviser. Following the meeting, he appeared noticeably upbeat at the office. Speaking to journalists on July 1, he said preparations for the election were in “full gear.” Although the election date was not discussed with the Chief Adviser, the CEC confirmed that preparations are underway for a possible election between February and April.

On 9 July, Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam told a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy that the Chief Adviser had instructed the Home Ministry to complete all preparations for the 13th national elections by December. If reforms are finalized, the election may be held before Ramadan.

A day earlier, on 8 July, the EC held talks with the National Consensus Commission. The following day, the CEC convened a “commission meeting” to discuss legal reforms. Topics included amendments to the RPO, the Election Commission Secretariat (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, the Election Officers (Special Provisions) Act 1991 (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, candidate affidavits submitted with nomination papers, and the restoration of administrative and financial authority to EC Secretariat officials.

The meeting approved a proposal to amend the RPO to restore the EC’s power to cancel voting across an entire constituency. The Commission also decided in principle to tighten affidavit requirements and pursue other legal amendments.

EC officials said a proposal to amend the Voter List Act has been sent to the ministry, boundary laws have been revised, and the process to expand electoral symbols is underway.

Meanwhile, election-related procurement is ongoing. Printing of ballot papers and other materials is in progress. With support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the EC has launched a project titled “Ballot” to facilitate training and other activities.

Redrawing Constituency Boundaries
The EC has received over 600 applications from 79 constituencies seeking boundary changes. After verification, the Commission will issue a notification inviting claims and objections. Although the process had stalled, it gained momentum following the CEC’s meeting with the Chief Adviser.

Speaking to Banglanews, Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said, “Based on recommendations from the Reform Commission and others, we believe the Technical Committee may further refine the proposals.”

He added, “The Reform Commission suggested allowing a 10% variation in voter numbers in large districts. But in practice, this is often not feasible. To achieve such a balance, all constituencies would need to be reorganized. There’s another aspect: no applications were received for boundary changes in 221 constituencies. However, in areas with significant variation, we’ve asked for further review. The revised boundaries will be published this week.”

Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said that the redrawing of parliamentary boundaries must incorporate geographical conditions, administrative convenience, transportation infrastructure, and the jurisdiction of the Election Commission.

Voter List Update 
The Election Commission (EC) has completed its door-to-door voter list update. As a result, more than 4.4 million new voters will be added to the rolls. The EC plans to publish a supplementary list including these new registrants.

Commissioner Sanaullah said, “Through the house-to-house update, we identified 44,06,602 previously unlisted voters who have newly registered. Additionally, we found 21,32,590 deceased voters in the existing list. A supplementary voter list will be published this week.”

He added, “Under current law, the draft voter list is published on January 1. However, we want to allow mid-year registrants to be included as well. These omitted voters became eligible on January 1, 2025, but for various reasons were not registered. Therefore, their inclusion is justified.”

Political Party Registration 
The registration process for new political parties, previously sluggish, has gained momentum. A 20-member EC team has completed preliminary screening. Parties with incomplete documentation will be given an additional 15 days. A total of 147 parties have applied for registration.

Commissioner Sanaullah said, “Initial verification of party applications is complete. Those with complete documentation and proper formatting will proceed to field-level verification. Others will receive letters granting 15 more days to submit missing information.”

Polling Centre Policy 
Following the CEC’s meeting with the Chief Adviser, the EC has revised its polling centre policy. The previous commission had transferred authority from EC officials to district commissioners (DCs) and police superintendents (SPs). That decision has now been reversed, restoring control to EC personnel. Additionally, the Commission has initiated a polling centre renovation programme.

In this regard, the EC has issued directives to secretaries of the Secondary and Higher Education Division; Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Ministry; Technical and Madrasa Education Division; Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, and chief engineers of the Local Government Engineering Department and Education Engineering Department.

On the establishment of polling centres, Commissioner Sanaullah said, “The authority lies with the Election Commission. We prioritize accessibility for women, senior citizens, expectant mothers, and the ill. If the government proposes separate centres to engage youth who are disillusioned with voting, we will certainly consider it.”

Observer Policy
The Election Commission (EC) has finalized its policy for domestic and international election observers. The minimum educational qualification for domestic observers has been raised from Secondary School Certificate (SSC) to Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC). Additionally, the EC has decided to deny approval to foreign observers who submitted false reports in the past three elections.

Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud said that the policy has already been finalized and is expected to be published this week.

Engagement with Consensus Commission 
To advance discussions on electoral reforms and voting procedures, the EC is increasing its engagement with the National Consensus Commission. The goal is to expedite activities through coordinated efforts.

Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said, “We wanted to understand what discussions were taking place there and whether any data was relevant to the EC. We also explored whether we could contribute anything. That’s why the Chief Election Commissioner, our Senior Secretary, and I visited the Commission last Tuesday. We met with all the esteemed vice chairs and members.”

He added, “I believe we’re on the same page. We’ve managed to establish some of the regular communications we need. Going forward, we’ll determine how to maintain these communications, especially since many parallel processes are underway. Political parties are discussing reforms with the Consensus Commission, including amendments to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), which we are currently drafting.”

Legal Panel 
Elections often bring legal complexities, including cases that affect voting procedures, candidate eligibility, boundary disputes, and voter lists. To address these challenges more effectively, the EC intends to revise and strengthen its legal panel.

Commissioner Sanaullah said, “We’ve decided to update and reinforce the panel of lawyers associated with the EC to better handle legal matters.”

Ballot Printing and Procurement 
Preparations for printing ballot papers and other election materials are in progress for the 13th national parliamentary election. The EC estimates it will require 2,30,000 reams of paper, with costs exceeding Tk 35 crore. The Bangladesh Government Press (BG Press) recently submitted this demand.

EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said, “We’ve held initial meetings with BG Press. We expect procurement of election materials to be completed by September. The process is ongoing.”

Officials added that printing must begin soon for 21 types of forms, 17 types of packets, five types of ID cards, codes of conduct, symbol posters, election operation manuals, training manuals, and guidelines. Ballot papers will include the names and symbols of contesting candidates. Once the election schedule is announced and candidate lists are finalized, a large volume of papers must be printed and distributed to field offices within a short timeframe. Other materials should be printed and stored by September.

Election expenditure
The interim government has allocated Tk 2,956 crore to the Election Commission (EC) in the national budget for the upcoming 13th parliamentary election and other electoral activities. Of this, Tk 2,726.95 crore has been earmarked for operational expenses, while Tk 229.05 crore is designated for development purposes. The allocation covers both the 13th national election and other polls.

Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said, “We hope the allocated budget will be sufficient. If not, we’ll address it later. I don’t foresee any issues.”

Senior Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud told Banglanews, “We are preparing in line with the government’s announcement, and the preparations are progressing well.”

He added, “Following the CEC’s meeting with the Chief Adviser, we’ve accelerated our efforts. It wasn’t a directive; he simply inquired about our progress.”

Currently, Bangladesh has 12.18 crore registered voters. With the addition of newly updated voters, the total is expected to reach nearly 13 crore. The number of polling centres will also increase this time. Following the suspension of the Awami League’s registration, 50 parties remain registered, including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami. If more parties are registered, this number will rise.

SMS/