The Election Commission (EC) has begun distributing ballot papers and other election materials to polling stations across the country as part of final preparations for the 13th National Parliamentary Election and Referendum scheduled for 12 February.
According to EC sources, ballot boxes are set to reach polling centres in Dhaka and other major cities by Wednesday evening in line with the commission’s pre-announced schedule.
In districts outside the capital, ballot papers, ballot boxes and other necessary materials are expected to be delivered to polling stations by Wednesday night.
The EC said approximately 958,000 members of law enforcement agencies have been deployed nationwide to ensure security during the election.
The deployment includes members of police, Ansar, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and other security forces.
Voting will be held on Thursday from 7:00am to 4:30pm. Voters will cast ballots using two separate papers — a white ballot for electing Members of Parliament and a pink ballot for the referendum.
Election officials have identified 8,770 polling centres as highly vulnerable and around 16,000 as moderately vulnerable out of more than 42,000 centres nationwide. Enhanced security and monitoring measures have been taken at these locations.
Earlier, Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said that more than 90 percent of polling centres in 299 constituencies have been brought under CCTV surveillance. A total of 2,098 executive magistrates and 657 judicial magistrates have also been deployed to oversee the electoral process and address any irregularities.
Polling in one of the 300 constituencies has been postponed due to the death of a candidate.
Although the commissioner stated that over 90 percent of centres have been equipped with CCTV cameras, he did not provide an exact figure for the number of polling stations covered.
