93pc centres to get ballots on vote day morning

The Election Commission will send ballot papers to around 93 percent of the 42,025 polling centres on election day morning.

However, ballot for 2,964 centres in remote and hard-to-reach places, like in hilly areas, chars, haors and other wetlands, will be sent the day before the January 7 polls.

The EC selected the polling centers following reports of the returning officers on when the ballots papers should be sent. The decision to send ballots on the day of polling was made to improve transparency and security of the papers.

"Majority [39,061] of the [42,025] polling centres will get the ballots in the morning as election officials have said it's possible for them to do so," said Election Commission Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath yesterday.

This would be the first time in Bangladesh that ballots would reach centres on voting day.

The EC in a letter to all returning officers (ROs) yesterday said it decided to send ballots on the morning of election day.

It also asked the ROs to ensure that law enforcers deployed as mobile and striking forces take necessary security measures for the transportation of the ballot papers on election day morning, EC officials said yesterday.

The letter also asked the polls officials to ensure the presence of sufficient print and electronic media personnel during the distribution of ballot papers on election day morning.

On December 18, the EC in a circular asked all ROs to take steps and send ballots to the centres before the voting starts at 8:00am.

That day, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal told reporters at the EC office in Dhaka, "There was a demand for this from many, and it will improve transparency."

At a meeting with election commissioners on October 30, top officials of law enforcement agencies said it would be difficult to send ballots on voting day due to a lack of manpower and that they were in favour of sending them the day before the election.

During all previous parliamentary polls, ballots were sent to polling centres the day before voting.

But the matter became contentious after the 2018 election with opposition parties alleging that ballot box stuffing took place the night before election day.

In January 2019, Jatiya Oikyafront alleged before the EC that between 30 and 60 percent of the votes were cast the night before.

The same month, Transparency International Bangladesh in a study found that stamping of ballots took place the night before election day in more than one centre in 33 of the 50 surveyed constituencies.