The schedule for the 13th parliamentary polls is likely to be announced in the second week of December, Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin said on Saturday after inspecting a mock voting exercise.
The mock voting – designed to assess the practical feasibility of holding the national election and the referendum on the same day – took place from 8am to 12pm at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Government Girls’ High School in the capital.
The CEC said the Election Commission would review the results of the mock voting before deciding whether to increase the number of polling centres and booths.
Disorder was observed during the mock voting, as crowds of curious onlookers, voters and journalists gathered inside the polling centre.
Expressing frustration over the situation, Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said, “This is not a performance for show. The exercise is extremely important. If chaos like this continues, there is no point in conducting it.”
“We need to see how much time it takes from standing in the queue to casting the vote,” he added, noting that many of the Commission’s decisions would depend on this timing.
Voters want awareness campaign for referendum
Meanwhile, voters in the mock polling advised the authorities to increase public awareness campaigns on how to cast votes in the referendum. Many said they cast their referendum ballots without fully understanding the process, while others were left waiting for long periods after failing to locate their names on the list.
Abu Hanif, a voter, said, “When I came here to vote today, no one told us what the referendum was about. If we had been briefed beforehand, we would have understood it better.”
Another voter, Hafizur Rahman, said, “I cast my referendum vote without reading or understanding it. It would have been helpful to know about it in advance.”
Momena Khatun, another voter, said she had to wait under the sun for a long time. When she reached the centre, she could not find her name on the list. She later found her name outside and was eventually able to vote.
Presiding Officer Jahangir Alam said the voting process had been managed efficiently. He said voters were guided from checking their serial numbers to entering the polling centre. Verifying voter lists inside the secret booth, issuing ballot papers, stamping and applying ink took about one minute per voter.
He added that in the mock voting, 70.4% of the 500 registered voters cast their ballots, meaning 352 people voted.
‘Significant time-management challenge’
After observing the mock voting, the CEC said the referendum had been added as an additional responsibility alongside the national election. “This has introduced a significant time-management challenge for us. We have arranged more than 42,500 polling centres. Based on today’s assessment, we will decide whether this number is sufficient.”
“Adding just one extra polling booth means adding three staff members, an additional ballot box and a range of logistical arrangements. If we need to expand, we must understand exactly what kind of additional setup would be required. Today’s mock voting is our real-world test for that,” he said.
When asked about voters taking longer to cast ballots for both the parliamentary election and the referendum at the same time, CEC Nasir Uddin said, “Today we have gained one form of real-time assessment. The queueing time is also part of the experience, and we will address it.”
On referendum awareness, he said, “We haven’t yet begun the full campaign on the referendum. The government and the Election Commission will jointly conduct extensive publicity. The Ministry of Information and Cultural Affairs has been tasked with leading the campaign.”
Speaking about the law-and-order situation, the CEC said, “The order situation has improved significantly. We are continuously coordinating with law-enforcement agencies. Everyone is undergoing training. We will ensure an overall environment conducive to polling.”
