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Published : 14 May 2026, 11:18 AM
The Election Commission (EC) has launched a series of workshops to identify hurdles faced during the simultaneous national election and referendum held in February to leave a functional "footprint" for its successors.
For the first time, voters cast ballots through a two ballot system, while postal ballots were introduced both at home and abroad.
The election schedule was announced with only two months in hand, forcing the commission to complete preparations within a tight timeframe.
Despite strong interest around overseas postal voting, many registered expatriate voters ultimately did not cast ballots.
The counting of two separate ballots was also a new administrative exercise.
Postal ballots were counted only at designated returning officer centres, while the central announcement of results took around 11 to 12 hours.
The 13th parliamentary polls and referendum were held on Feb 12, nearly three months ago.
The BNP-led alliance later formed the government with a majority, while the Jamaat-led alliance took the Opposition benches.
Against that backdrop, the EC has arranged a workshop titled “Experiences Gained from the 13th Parliamentary Election 2026 and Future Course of Action”.
The workshop involving election officials is being held in Cox’s Bazar on Friday and Saturday.
The chief election commissioner, four election commissioners and the EC secretary are taking part.
EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said the commission had already held a workshop in the Haor region to gather experiences and challenges from remote areas following the polls.
He said another workshop was later arranged in Dhaka focusing on urban and metropolitan experiences, while the third phase in Cox’s Bazar would examine challenges in coastal, hilly and hard-to-reach regions.
According to the EC, discussions at the workshops are covering law and order issues alongside challenges before, during and after polling day.
The sessions are also reviewing difficulties involving transport of election materials, nomination submissions, coordination among law-enforcing agencies, maintaining network connectivity, vote counting and centralised result management.
Officials are also discussing recommendations for future elections based on those experiences.
Akhtar said no previous election commission had left behind a practical “footprint” for future commissions after a national election.
Earlier reports mostly focused on numerical data such as voter turnout, winners and vote counts.
He said the current EC wanted to prepare a more useful report after conducting both a parliamentary election and referendum under one administration.
Since another parliamentary election would not take place under this commission, the report is intended to guide future commissions with field-level experiences, identified challenges and recommendations, he added.
What Challenges Emerged?
The AMM Nasir Uddin commission took office in November 2024 and soon began updating the voter list in phases, including special attention to Rohingya-populated areas such as Cox’s Bazar.
The commission also had to work through electoral law reforms, constituency delimitation and political party registration before the election.
Preparations became more complex after the referendum was added alongside the parliamentary vote, while postal ballots for expatriates were also introduced.
EC Secretary Akhtar said the commission was now reviewing experiences related to postal ballots, particularly why many registered voters abroad did not eventually vote.
He also said many had predicted the central announcement of results would take far longer than 11 to 12 hours.
The workshops are now examining how vote counting and result transmission could be made faster and smoother in future elections.
Election officials are also discussing how different geographical areas -- including hill tracts, Haor regions, coastal belts and plains -- posed different logistical challenges.
The commission is additionally reviewing experiences surrounding the rule requiring independent candidates to secure signatures from 1 percent of voters.
Akhtar said electoral law reform remains an ongoing process and the commission may later hold discussions with other stakeholders based on field-level experiences.
Any future commission, he said, would be able to use the recommendations and reports prepared now while considering further reforms.
The current EC is set to oversee city corporation, Upazila, district, municipality and union council polls.
EC officials believe the lessons gathered through these workshops will also help improve local government elections.
