Responding to the interim government chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus鈥檚 letter, the Election Commission on Thursday discussed a plan to announce the schedule for the 13th national election in the first week of December.
- EC finalises code of conduct
- Registration for postal ballots for聽expatriates in Sept
- Anyone aged 18 on Oct 31 to be voter
After the commission鈥檚 ninth meeting at the EC headquarters in Dhaka on the day, election commissioner retired Brigadier General Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah disclosed the information while talking to journalists.
鈥楾oday鈥檚 meeting did not finalise the date. With plans to hold the national elections days before the start of Ramadan in mid-February 2026, the chief election commissioner would announce the election schedule 60 days in advance,鈥� Abul Fazal said.
He confirmed that expatriate Bangladeshis would be able to cast their votes by postal ballots. The EC meeting also finalised the inclusion of the new voters who turned 18 by October 31 this year and the Code of Conduct 2025 for political parties and candidates for the upcoming national election, he said.
In the press briefing, senior secretary Akhtar Ahmed and other EC officials were present.聽
The Thursday meeting also discussed the Representation of the People Order 1972 (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 but could not complete the discussion.
Talking about postal ballots, Abul Fazal said, 鈥極nly ballots marked with electoral symbols will be sent to the registered expatriates.鈥�
Abul Fazal added that a dedicated assistant returning officer from each constituency would manage the postal ballot distribution process from Dhaka in collaboration with the Bangladesh Post Office.
The commission said that it was working to begin the online registration process from September.
He hinted at an approximate cost to facilitate the expatriates鈥� postal ballot, saying that Tk 6-7 crore would be required for one lakh of voters. He also said that the distribution and collection of postal votes could take between 16 and 28 days depending on the overseas destination.聽聽
Postal voting within the country would also be facilitated for government employees, the polling staff, and persons in legal custody using the same online registration system, he said, adding that the commission was also exploring the feasibility of including hospitalised patients and prisoners under the postal ballot coverage.
Although he did not disclose the refined Code of Conduct 2025 before finalising the RPO 2025, Abul Fazal said that the commission formed a special committee to counter misinformation and disinformation, especially via social media and AI tools during the electioniering.
鈥楾he same committee would monitor and address misconducts by local or foreign malign actors, who are neither the poll contestants nor any political parties. However, the commission is not for limiting bandwidth or any disruption in public services,鈥� the election commissioner said.
He further disclosed that the Election Commission was analysing the installation of CCTV at all the 45,000 polling booths as it seemed too expensive. Moreover, the commission decided to prohibit the use of drones and quadcopters by contestants and the media during electioneering.
