The 13th national election and the referendum on the implementation of the July Charter are likely to be held between 8 and 12 February next year, Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarkar has said.
“It could be a day or two after Sunday, 8 February, or a day or two before Thursday, 12 February. In other words, it may fall somewhere in the middle,” he said while speaking to journalists on Tuesday evening.
The commissioner said since the referendum and the parliamentary election will be held on the same day, the commission is considering increasing the number of secret booths. The voting period may also be extended from the current eight hours to nine.
“We are thinking of extending the hours at both ends – starting earlier in the morning and closing later in the afternoon,” he said. “At present, voting begins at 8am, which may be brought forward to 7:30am. Similarly, the closing time may be pushed from 4pm to 4:30pm. But nothing has been finalised yet. We will take a decision at the meeting on 7 December.”
When asked whether the commission would decide the date for announcing the election schedule at that meeting, he said, “Yes, that is likely. We will brief the media after the commission’s meeting.”
Election Commission officials said the polling date is usually chosen with weekly holidays in mind. In most cases, voting is scheduled on either Sunday, the first working day of the week, or Thursday, the last working day. Based on past practice, the EC Secretariat will again place multiple date options before the commission, which will make the final decision.
Of the previous 12 parliamentary elections, the second, tenth, eleventh and twelfth were held on Sundays; the eighth and ninth took place on Mondays; the first, third, fifth and seventh were held on Wednesdays; and the fourth and sixth elections were conducted on Thursdays.
For the most recent twelfth parliamentary election, the schedule was announced on 15 November 2023 and polling took place on 7 January the following year – a gap of 53 days. Candidates had 14 days to submit nomination papers, four days for scrutiny and 13 days for withdrawal (including five days for appeals and six for disposal).
After receiving election symbols, candidates had 19 days for campaigning, with polling held 48 hours after campaigning ended. Voting was conducted from 8am to 4pm.
