The Election Commission Secretariat has informed Muhammad Yunus, the chief adviser to the interim government, earlier this month about the preparations needed to hold a free and fair election as political parties' calls for polls grow louder.

Usually, the process starts with the chief election commissioner informing the president. Given the absence of a functioning EC, the Chief Adviser's Office was informed about the process, The Daily Star has learnt from people involved with the proceedings.

It was conveyed to Yunus that the first step to holding a credible election would be a comprehensive voter list and preparing one could take nine to 10 months.

If the EC is reconstituted by December, a voter list could be ready by the end of 2025.

It would take at least one month for data collection, seven to eight months for registration, 15 days for the draft list and another 15 days for feedback and objections from voters.

For the process to kick off, the EC needs to be formed, and for that, a search committee needs to be formed.

According to Article 119 of the constitution, the EC is responsible for preparing, supervising, directing and controlling voter lists for presidential and parliamentary elections.

The cabinet division serves as the secretariat for the search committee involved in commission appointments, according to the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners Appointment Act, 2022.

The need for a fully operational EC has already been communicated to President Mohammed Shahabuddin, and in response, the Chief Advisor's office has requested the president to initiate the necessary appointments.

Yesterday, Asif Nazrul, the law affairs adviser, announced that a search committee for the EC has already been formed.

"I can tell you one thing -- the process for our government to gear up for the election has begun. You could say that the journey towards the election has started," he told reporters after meeting with Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Once the EC is constituted, the priority will be on updating the voter list to eliminate fake entries allegedly added by the previous government, Nazrul added.

Currently, Bangladesh has over 121.8 million registered voters, of which approximately 62.1 million are male, 59.7 million female and 932 third gender.

The interim government intends to engage in a transparent electoral process and hence wants to compile a new voter list, The Daily Star has learnt from people involved with the proceedings.

Although routine annual updates are conducted as per the Voter List Act 2009, the government is considering an exception to the norm, aligning with public demand.

The Voter List Act 2009 mandates an annual update from January 2 to March 2 and yet allows the EC discretion for special revisions.

Subsequently, the EC is legally required to finalise the updated voter list by March 2 next year.

A budget of Tk 138 crore was allocated for the 2022 voter list update.