Ahead of the 13th National Parliamentary Election and referendum scheduled for 12 February, all forms of election campaigning by contesting candidates will end at 7:30 a.m. on 10 February (Tuesday). This decision will take effect in accordance with the legal provision that campaigning must stop 48 hours before polling.
Confirming the matter, Election Commission (EC) Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said that after the stipulated time, political parties and candidates will not be allowed to hold any meetings or processions, distribute campaign materials, or carry out any form of campaigning through the media.
Voting will be held simultaneously across the country on Thursday, 12 February, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Balloting will take place using ballot papers in transparent ballot boxes in 299 parliamentary constituencies. As the election in the Sherpur-3 constituency has been cancelled due to the death of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate, voting will be held in 299 seats instead of the usual 300.
Sources at the EC Secretariat said that ballot papers have already been sent to returning officers in 49 districts. The process of delivering ballots to the remaining districts will be completed by Sunday.
The total number of voters in this election is 127,711,899. Of them, 64,825,154 are male voters, 62,885,525 are female voters, and 1,220 are third-gender voters.
According to EC data, the constituency with the fewest voters is Jhalokathi-1, with 228,431 voters, while Gazipur-2 has the highest number, with 804,333 voters.
A total of 51 political parties are participating in the election. Altogether there are 2,034 candidates, including 275 independents. Among political parties, the BNP has fielded the highest number of candidates—291.
The EC’s Senior Secretary further said that a total of 42,779 polling centers and 247,482 polling booths have been set up nationwide. The Election Commission stated that all preparations have been completed to ensure a free, fair, and peaceful election.
