Electioneering in the 13th parliament election and referendum, scheduled for 12 February, will conclude at 7:30am on Tuesday (10 February), exactly 48 hours before voting begins.
The campaign, which began on 22 January, will end in line with electoral rules requiring all political parties and candidates to cease campaign activities two days prior to polling.
Election Commission (EC) Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said campaign activities will stop at 7:30am on Tuesday, maintaining the mandatory 48‑hour silence period before the start of voting.
The 13th national polls and referendum will be held on Thursday (12 February). Voting will take place simultaneously from 7:30am to 4:30pm through ballot papers using transparent ballot boxes in 299 parliamentary constituencies in the country.
The EC recently cancelled the election in Sherpur‑3 constituency following death of a Jamaat‑e‑Islami candidate. As a result, voting will be held in 299 constituencies instead of 300.
Meanwhile, the EC has already sent ballot papers to returning officers in 49 districts, while the remaining ballots are expected to reach their destinations by Sunday, according to EC officials.
A total of 12,77,11,899 voters are eligible to cast their votes in the election and referendum. Of them, 6,48,25,154 are male voters, 6,28,85,525 are female voters, and 1,220 belong to the hijra community.
Among the 300 constituencies, the lowest number of voters is in Jhalakathi‑1 with 2,28,431 voters, while the highest number of voters is in Gazipur‑2 with 8,04,333 voters.
A total of 51 political parties are participating in the general election with 2,034 candidates in the race, including 275 independent contenders. Among the political parties, BNP has fielded the highest number of candidates, with 291 contestants running under its “Sheaf of Paddy” symbol.
Voting will be held at 42,779 polling centres across 300 parliamentary constituencies, where 247,482 polling booths will be set up, EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed earlier said.
Dhaka‑12 constituency has the highest number of candidates with 15 contestants, while Pirojpur‑1 has the lowest with only two candidates.
Around 8,00,000 officials will be deployed to perform election duties, while nearly 900,000 members of law enforcement agencies will ensure security during the election and referendum.
A total of 55,454 observers from 81 locally registered organizations will monitor the election. Of them, 7,997 observers will work centrally and 47,457 locally on a constituency basis.
Besides, around 500 foreign observers will be present during the election, said Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah.
