EC raises voter numbers per booth under revised election guidelines

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Election Commission (EC) has revised its guidelines for polling centres, raising the number of voters assigned to each booth and reducing the overall number of booths nationwide.

Under the new rules, one booth will now be required for every 600 male voters and 500 female voters. Previously, the allocation was one booth for 500 men and 400 women.

The provision of one polling centre for every 3,000 voters remains unchanged.

The changes were introduced in the Polling Centre Establishment and Management Guidelines 2025, which the EC published as a gazette on Monday.

Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said on Saturday that the changes would save the commission nearly Tk 10 billion. With more voters per booth, around 49,000 booths can be cut, reducing the need for about 150,000 election officials.

In the last general election, 119.1 million voters cast ballots across more than 42,000 polling centres containing over 261,000 booths.

The number of registered voters has now risen to more than 126.3 million, with new names to be added on Oct 31.

The EC has instructed officials to prepare a draft list of polling centres and booths by Sept 10, followed by a tentative list in mid-October. The final list of polling centres will be published at least 25 days before voting day.