Staff Reporter:
The schedule for the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) election and the referendum will be an-nounced this week, Election Commissioner (EC) Brig Gen (retd) Abul Fazal Md. Sanaullah said yester-day.
“The schedule for the national election and the referendum will be announced very soon. As the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) has already said, we will declare the schedule at some point within this week,” he told journalists after the 10th commission meeting held at the Nirbachan Bhaban in the capi-tal’s Agargaon here yesterday.
Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin chaired the meeting while four election commissioners and senior officials of the EC Secretariat were also present.
“There are some procedural tasks we must complete beforehand. As per our tradition, the full commis-sion will meet the President. A letter will be sent today to Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television to record the statement of the Chief Election Commissioner,” he said.
Sanaullah said, “We have decided to extend the voting hours by one hour — half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon. Voting will now begin at 7:30 a.m. and continue until 4:30 p.m.”
He said, “The voter list has been finalized. Another list will later be finalized including postal voters”.
He further said, “Regarding presiding officers, assistant presiding officers, and polling officers — we reviewed the list prepared from the field level and made decisions accordingly. Officers from govern-ment, semi-government, autonomous, semi-autonomous institutions, and state-owned banks will be in-cluded in this list. We are not considering officers from private commercial banks for now; they will remain in reserve and will only be engaged if necessary.”
About election materials, he said it was discussed and finalized. “All election materials, including ballot papers, will be delivered to polling centers the night before the election, as done previously. Since we are conducting two elections simultaneously, necessary preparations have been made,” he added.
Regarding time management for the national election and referendum, he said, “You know we conducted a mock voting. Based on that experience, and the experience of those who have managed elections pre-viously at the field level, several decisions have been made. First, every room used for polling will have multiple marking places or secret booths.”
On referendum campaigning, he said, “The government is undertaking an extensive programme for ref-erendum publicity, and the Election Commission will assist. To ensure voters understand the referendum question before entering the polling center, the referendum ballot will be printed in large size and dis-played at the front of each voting line. Clear instructions will also be provided at the centers for persons with disabilities, elderly voters, pregnant women, and others requiring assistance, so they can cast their votes comfortably.”
