EC plans 4 months for procurement, printing in lead-up to general election

It is finalising preparations to avoid delays

The Election Commission (EC) Secretariat is preparing to purchase the necessary materials and carry out the printing work three to four months ahead of the upcoming 13th parliamentary elections.

Officials held a meeting on Tuesday with the Department of Printing and Publications to determine the demand for materials, assess the budget, and review existing stock.

The meeting, held at the Election Commission office in Dhaka’s Agargaon, focused on ensuring that preparations for the polls remain on schedule.

“We are organising everything in such a way that the election preparations are not delayed,” EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed told reporters after the meeting.

He said the printing department informed the commission that the entire process — from procuring paper to completing printing — would require three to four months.

“We will work backwards from the election schedule. Once the date is set, we will calculate accordingly and move in line with that,” he added.

EC officials explained that a total of 21 types of forms, 17 types of packets, five types of identity cards, code of conduct, symbol posters, election manuals, training manuals, and instructions, among other materials, need to be printed for the general elections.

The meeting also highlighted the necessity to print and store these materials by September.

To meet these requirements, procurement should begin by May.

Once the election schedule is announced, the printing of nomination forms and symbol allocations will begin, followed by printing the ballot papers to be sent to field-level locations.

During the last general election, the commission procured 161,000 reams of paper at a cost of over Tk 330 million.

This time, the commission may need at least 170,000 reams, with an estimated cost of around Tk 360 million.

The updated voter list is expected to be completed by June.

With nearly 125 million registered voters, officials said the number of polling stations, rooms, and election personnel will also increase.

EC officials said it would take several more months to get a complete picture, and the expenditure will be adjusted based on market prices at the time.