The Election Commission (EC) has issued special instructions to streamline the process of transmitting vote-counting statements for the upcoming 13th parliamentary election and Referendum.
Under these new directives, presiding officers will be authorised to send copies of the result statements directly to the Election Commission Secretariat without the need for any upfront postage payments.
On Tuesday, Mohammad Monir Hossain, the deputy secretary of Election Management-02 branch, signed a letter requesting the director general of the Postal Department to take the necessary steps to implement this arrangement.
According to the provisions of Representation of the People Order, 1972, presiding officers are required to dispatch a copy of the vote-counting statement to the EC secretary using special envelopes.
These documents are to be sent via insured post or the Registered Acknowledgement Due (A/D) method. The Election Commission will subsequently settle the postage costs with the Postal Department through a ‘book adjustment’ process.
To facilitate the immediate dispatch of results once counting is finalised, the EC has directed relevant post offices to remain open from 4:30pm on polling day, 12 February, until all tasks are completed.
This may include remaining operational throughout the night and into the following morning if necessary.
The special postal service will continue for several days following the election to ensure all records are processed. The Postal Department has been tasked with making special arrangements for the urgent delivery of these results to the commission.
Presiding officers have been strictly instructed to collect the acknowledgement receipts (A/D) from the post office upon dispatch.
