EC makes SSC certificate mandatory in voter registration for degree holders

New directive aims to streamline date of birth verification and NID data corrections

The Election Commission has made it mandatory to upload SSC or equivalent examination certificates to the server for “educational degree holders” applying for voter registration or national identity cards.

The instruction was issued on Wednesday by the National Identity Card (NID) wing of the EC Secretariat to all registration officers and Upazila and thana election officers.

The voter or NID registration form already allows the inclusion of documents such as SSC or equivalent certificates, passports, or applicant-signed proof copies in the database where applicable.

The EC Secretariat said although SSC certificates are required for verification of NID information -- particularly for correcting details such as date of birth -- some Upazila and thana election offices have not been consistently uploading them into the database for candidates with secondary or higher education.

As a result, verification of SSC certificates for NID correction has not been possible, creating difficulties in decision-making, the directive signed by NID wing Director Saiful Islam said.

For this reason, uploading SSC certificates into the database has now been made mandatory for candidates with secondary or higher qualifications.

It has also been instructed that for those with higher secondary or above qualifications, SSC certificates must be uploaded to the server, while their highest educational qualification certificates must be kept at the Upazila election office.

At the same time, regional and district election officers have been directed to supervise the work of Upazila election offices.