Electronic Voting Machines(EVMs) will not be used in the 12th national election, said Election Commission (EC) Secretary Md. Jahangir Alam on Monday (April 03, 2023). Voting will be held using ballot papers in 300 seats, he told reporters after a meeting of election commissioners at the EC Secretariat. The EC secretary said they took the decision to use ballot paper due to lack of political consensus and necessary resources. On August 23, the EC decided to use EVMs instead of traditional ballot papers in maximum of 150 constituencies in the next general election – likely to be held early next year. Read More: BNP won't come to power whenever election is held: Quader On September 19 last year, the Election Commission approved a Tk 8,711 crore project to procure electronic voting machines (EVMs) for 150 constituencies, out of 300, for the 12th parliamentary election. The decision received strong opposition from BNP and its allies, who did not join talks with the CEC that continued throughout the month of July. However, the ruling Awami League welcomed the decision as it was their demand to use EVMs in all 300 seats in the next election. On January 23, this year the government decided not to proceed with purchasing 2 lakh electronic voting machines (EVMs) citing the global economic recession. Read More: Cabinet nods 2 to 7 years’ imprisonment for election disruptions

The Election Commission will purchase paper from the state-owned Karnaphuli Paper Mills (KPM) ahead of the upcoming national parliamentary election. AKM Anisuzzaman, managing director of KMP, said EC collected paper from the mill for use as ballot paper in the national election. The EC has sent a letter seeking 700 mt of paper and those will be provided to the EC in time as per their demand, he said. Read more: Production at Karnaphuli Paper Mills resumes after 25 days Sources said paper in three colours -- yellow, blue and pink -- are needed for ballot paper. This year the KMP will provide the colour papers as per the demand of the EC. Papers of KPM are also supplied to different government organisations and universities. Besides, the government is using the paper of KPM in textbooks, provided to students for free. Read More: EVM purchasing suspended, not cancelled: EC secretary Despite some limitations, KPM, since 75 years of its establishment, has been providing high-quality paper to different organisations due to its huge demand.