The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday unveiled the roadmap for the upcoming 13th national parliamentary election. The announcement was made by EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed at a briefing held at the Election Commission’s media centre in Agargaon, Dhaka.
Akhtar Ahmed stated that the interim government had requested the EC to organise the national election before Ramadan, and based on this directive, election preparations have been ongoing. “We have been providing updates in phases and now, ahead of the national election, we have divided our action plan into 24 parts,” he said.
He added that one key segment is a dialogue with stakeholders, which is scheduled to begin at the end of September and will continue for one and a half months. “The dialogue will include political leaders as well as media personalities,” he said.
Regarding the voters’ list, the EC official confirmed that the final list for the election will be published on 30 November. Meanwhile, field-level data collection by newly registered political parties is underway, and the commission expects to complete this exercise within September.
Key elements of the plan are as follows:
Dialogue with stakeholders: This will begin in the last week of September and is expected to last for one and a half months.
Voter list updates: The second phase of the supplementary draft voter list has already been published. It will be finalized by 31 August. The final voter list for the 13th national election will be published on 30 November, with the draft list released on 1 November.
Electoral laws: All electoral laws, including amendments to the Parliamentary Constituency Delimitation Act, Voter List Act, polling station regulations, and observer guidelines, will be reviewed and finalized by 30 September.
Political party registration: This will be completed by 30 September.
Constituency boundary determination: The boundaries will be finalized by 15 September, with the gazette notification published by that date. The GIS maps will be prepared and released by 30 September.
Observer registration: The registration process for election observers will be finalized by 22 October, with registration certificates issued by 15 November. All observer and media permits will be completed by 15 November.
Election-related outreach: The EC will hold meetings with the Ministry of Information, Ministry of ICT, BTRC, and mobile operators regarding election-related communication by 15 November.
Election materials and training: Election manuals, guidelines, posters, and other materials will be printed by 15 September. Training for election officials will be completed between 29 August and 4-5 days before the election. All election materials will be collected and distributed by 31 December.
Ballot preparations: The final version of the transparent ballot will be finalized by 30 November.
Election budget: The final election budget will be approved by 15 November, with meetings held between 16 and 20 November for law enforcement budget allocation.
Staffing and logistics: All personnel and administrative arrangements for the election will be completed by 30 November. The panel for polling officers will be prepared by 30 September.
Security arrangements: The first meeting on law and order will take place on 25 September, with subsequent meetings being held for other security-related activities. An inter-ministerial meeting will be held on 31 October to finalize ICT-related tasks.
Awareness campaigns: The EC plans to complete public awareness campaigns by 30 November.
Telecommunication arrangements: The EC will ensure that the telecommunication system remains functional, including guidelines for announcing and broadcasting results.
Postal ballots for expatriates: The EC aims to finalize the postal ballot arrangements for expatriates by January 2026.