Election roadmap: EC wants to complete ‘core preparations’ within October

Election Commissioner Anwarul says law and order will not be a challenge before the vote

The Election Commission (EC) is aiming to complete all core preparations for the general election within October, before the formal schedule announcement in December.

Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus has already said the parliamentary polls will be held in the first half of February.

The commission has said the official schedule will be released in early December, around 50 to 60 days before polling.

Before that, the EC plans to publish its election roadmap -- likely within this week -- outlining the steps leading up to the vote.

“All electoral tasks will be completed according to plan,” Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarker told bdnews24.com on Thursday.

“The major work will be done within October, and we’ll be ready for the election,” he added.

Anwarul believes that the law and order is improving.

He said the environment will become more favourable as all parties turn their focus towards the election, and the EC’s authority will increase once the schedule is announced.

“Before the election, everyone will be busy with electoral activities, and mutual cooperation will improve. We do not believe law and order will pose a challenge,” he added.

Tasks in the roadmap will include redrawing constituency boundaries, registering political parties and election observer organisations, amending the Representation of the People Order (RPO), issuing the electoral code of conduct, and finalising the voter roll.

The draft RPO contains 44 proposed amendments, aligned by definition and clause. Over 123.7 million voters are currently on the provisional list, with around 4.6 million omissions identified.

The final list will be released on Aug 31, removing the names of dead voters.

To extend voting rights to eligible youth, a supplementary voter roll will be prepared by Oct 31, with finalisation scheduled for November.

For the first time, expatriate voters will be able to register online and cast postal ballots via a new app, set to be completed within November.