The Bangladesh Election Commission will announce next week a comprehensive road map on the 13th parliamentary elections, outlining time frames for preparatory work from the start of the聽 election process to the publication of results.
EC senior secretary Akhtar Ahmed on Thursday told reporters that the road map would provide clarity on the commission鈥檚 preparations as well as guidance for political parties, observers and the other stakeholders before the national election expected to be held in February 2026.
He said that the commission received 318 applications from prospective election observers, which remained under review.
In addition, the field-level verification of 22 political parties that fulfilled the primary requirements for registration would be conducted as part of the commission鈥檚 data collection process, Akhtar said.
He also said that other routine matters were being regularly discussed and would be communicated to the public in due course.
A significant portion of the road map will address out-of-country voting, including discussions on the process, time frames and coverage areas, which are still under review, Akhtar said.
Since the ninth parliamentary elections, it has been a practice for the EC to publish a road map highlighting the progress of preparatory work.
Before the 12th parliamentary elections, the road map was released in September 2022, one and a half years before the vote.
The current commission has maintained this practice of releasing road map.
According to election commission officials, the forthcoming road map would include detailed time frames for key election-related activities, including voter lists, boundary delimitation, party registration, electoral law reforms, procurement of election equipment, dialogue with parties and stakeholders, training, printing of materials, law and order meetings, and meetings with election officials both before and after the schedule is announced.
The current commission, which took office in November 2024, had initially prepared a preliminary plan based on a December 2025 time frame, but the road map would now be finalised based on February 2026 polls.
A meeting is scheduled for August 18 to finalise the road map, which may then be published in a booklet form once the Election Commission approves it.
