The Election Commission (EC) is planning to introduce an online system for voter constituency transfer applications. Once implemented, citizens will no longer need to appear in person at the relevant upazila office to submit such applications.
At the same time, the constitutional body is considering imposing a prescribed fee for processing online transfer applications. These issues were discussed at the EC’s monthly coordination meeting held on Monday.
Officials have been instructed in a meeting to prepare a proposal on online voter transfer applications and the determination of a service fee and submit it to the senior secretary within the next 15 working days, according to sources.
The meeting also emphasised the need to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and finalise a decision on revising National Identity Card (NID) correction fees as soon as possible.
According to EC decisions, plans have been taken to reduce dependence on upazila-level investigations in NID correction cases and increase the involvement of additional regional and additional district election officers. The commission believes this will help expedite the disposal of correction applications.
The meeting further decided that voter registration activities at the field level will continue throughout the year. Necessary guidelines specifying the required documents for new voter registration will also be issued to field offices.
At the same time, a decision was taken to strengthen voter data uploading, verification and monitoring activities at district and regional levels.
The commission also directed the finalisation of recommendations made by a committee regarding the continuation of deceased voter removal activities throughout the year, instead of limiting the exercise to the current deadline of 15 July.
According to EC sources, as of 8 June, scanning and uploading of 3,10,39,305 voter registration forms (Form-2) submitted before 2012 had been completed. Officials have been instructed to finish uploading the remaining data from 2008 to 2012 by 31 August.
District-wise progress reports are to be presented at the next coordination meeting.
During the meeting, the system manager (technical) informed participants that software development and testing for the use of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) at regional and upazila election offices had been completed. Access to the system will be provided to other field offices within the next 15 working days.
Discussions were also held on introducing iris recognition technology for identity verification in cases where fingerprints cannot be captured. Until that system is introduced, a proposal to grant district-level authorities the power to issue No Objection Certificates (NOCs) remains under consideration.
The meeting also instructed officials to simplify investigation procedures for overseas voters, expedite smart card printing, and submit related progress reports within seven working days.
Speaking to TIMES of Bangladesh, EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said discussions had been held on introducing online voter constituency transfer services, but no final decision had yet been taken.
He added that a proposal to revise NID correction fees had already been sent to the Ministry of Finance and remained under consideration.
