EC to prepare 40,000 polling centres ahead of general election

The Election Commission has moved to list 40,000 polling stations for 104.2 million voters ahead of the 11th parliamentary election.

The EC has already sent its approved ‘polling centre policy’ to the field-level officials for the election.

Now the potential centres will be identified and a draft list based on constituencies will be prepared. The EC will release the final list after scrutinising the draft and settling the objections, if any.

“The commission approved the policy on Wednesday and it was then sent to field officials. Through this, the preparation for the national election started,” EC Deputy Secretary Abdul Halim Khan told bdnews24.com.

The 11th parliamentary election will be held anytime between Oct 30, 2018 to Jan 28, 2019. Bangladesh will require at least 3,000 more polling centres than in the last election held in 2014. A number of 613 centres will be located in the hill areas while the remaining 39,387 will be set in the rest of the country.

The EC plans to finish printing and making CDs of a voter list for 300 seats by October, said EC Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed. The EC will declare the schedule at an ‘appropriate time.’

There were 35,263 polling centres with 177,277 polling booths for 81 million of voters in the ninth general election while the numbers rose to 37,707 centres and 189,078 booths for 91.9 million of voters in the 10th general election.

At least 40,000 polling centres with two million booths will be needed against 104.2 million voters in the 11th general election.

The draft list will be published by July while objections to the voter list will be resolved by August. The EC will publish a gazette notification on the approved polling centres 25 days prior to the election.

There should be one polling centre for 2,500 voters on average and one polling booth for 600 male and 500 female voters, according to the polling centre policy.

Also, any institution established in the name of those directly related to election or possible candidates should be avoided.

Generally, the polling centres are selected based on its easy access to people and geographical location. However, sometimes the candidates have different complaints or objections regarding the polling centre. Some candidates are seen to be active to change the polling centre right before the election. One can file a complaint to the returning officer if the polling centre is seen to be close to the house of a candidate or falls within the ‘purview of a candidate’s influence’.

“As common practice, those polling centres used in previous elections remain on the list and active; but new polling cenres should be established if some of the previous centres are destroyed in river erosion or other disasters. New centres are needed where the number of voters has risen,” said Khan, deputy secretary of the EC.

The EC will work in full swing to prepare for the upcoming general election after the three city corporation polls are over by Jul 30.