EC revises polling centre guidelines

The Election Commission (EC) has revised the timeline for publishing polling centre lists for zila and upazila parishad elections, extending it to 25 days before polling from the previous 15 days, as it prepares for local government elections.

The EC issued a gazette on July 7, amending the Polling Station Setup and Management Guideline for the Local Government Election 2025.

Tap Here to Add The Daily Star As A Trusted Source

Under the revised guideline, the voter-to-booth ratio has also been increased to 500 female voters and 600 male voters per booth, up from 400 and 500, respectively.

The commission has said it is preparing to begin local government elections with union parishads in the first half of October, with the election schedule likely to be announced in the first half of August.

It is also considering extending polling hours to 7:30am-4:30pm from the current 8:00am-4:00pm, while increasing the number of secret voting compartments.

On July 9, the EC asked the Local Government Division to provide information on previous local government elections -- including polling dates, oath-taking, first meetings and tenure expiry dates -- by July 31 to facilitate election preparations.

Earlier, the commission said it was ready to hold local body elections, with ballot boxes and election officials already in place.

On June 10, the EC published draft codes of conduct for the five tiers of local government on its website and sought feedback from political parties and other stakeholders. The consultation ended on June 30, and the commission aims to finalise the rules this month after reviewing 11 submissions.

Bangladesh has 4,580 union parishads, 330 municipalities, 503 upazila parishads, 13 city corporations and 61 zila parishads.

No local government elections have been held over the past two years, creating a backlog as the terms of many elected bodies have expired.