The newly formed Election Commission (EC), headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin, has sat for its first meeting. The meeting began at 11am at room No-314 of the Bhaban, said EC sources.  All the commissioners -- Md Anwarul Islam Sarker, Abdur Rahmanel Masud, Begum Tahmida Ahmad and Brigadier General (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah – are there in the meeting. Broken criminal justice system needs to be fixed: CA's Press Secretary The interim government formed the EC on November 21, making former secretary Nasir Uddin as the CEC. On September 5, the previous EC, led by Kazi Habibul Awal, stepped down from the post amid severe criticism for their controversial roles in holding elections, including the 2024-national election. 

The final number of voters in the voter list updation-2022 will be published on Thursday marking the National Voter Day. With this, the Election Commission (EC) is going to observe the voter day for the fifth time this year with the slogan ‘will be voter following rules and vote for the competent candidates’.   The EC chalked out several programmes to observe the day to be launched through bringing out a rally from in front of the EC Bhaban in participation with the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other commissioners around 8.30am. A discussion meeting on the importance and significance of the voter day will be held in the EC Bhaban around 4pm. CEC Kazi Habibul Awal will attend as the chief guest.  Apart from this, an enthralling cultural event is scheduled to be held on Thursday evening. Three election officers will be honoured  for discharging duties with competency and credit. Along with the EC headquarters, the voter day will be observed in a befitting manner at all offices across the country tomorrow. The election affairs body ‘FEMBoSA’ belonging to SAARC decided to observe the voter day on March 2 every year in 2013.   Later, a proposal was sent to the EC with the recommendation to observe the day as the National Voter Day. The EC unanimously took the decision to mark the day every year since then.   

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal on Tuesday said election violence under the present Election Commission (EC) has dropped to zero. “The Election Commission wants to continue it,” he said while talking to reporters at the Election Commission Bhaban. Regarding Rangpur City Corporation (RCC) election, the CEC said the voting is underway at a slow pace for using electronic voting machines (EVMs). About 56 percent voters have cast their votes till 4 pm, he added. The voting may continue till 7-8 pm due the long queues at the polling centres, he added. The voting in the election was scheduled to end at 4:30pm. Read more: Rangpur City Corporation: Voting begins amid enthusiasm The EC will look into whether there is any other reason behind the delay in voting , he added. “We have got some allegations of slow voting due to electronic voting machines (EVMs) but all the voters at the centers will be allowed to exercise their franchise till night,” he said. The Election Commission is monitoring the election through CC cameras from a control room. Election Commissioners Brig. General (retd) Ahsan Habib Khan, Md Alamgir, Anisur Rahman, Squadron leader Shahrier Alam are present at the control room and observing the whole situation as already 1,807 CC cameras have been installed at the polling booths. Read more: Official electioneering period ends tonight, before Rangpur votes for mayor Voting in Rangpur City Corporation began on Tuesday morning using electronic voting machines (EVMs) at 229 centres. Nine candidates are vying for the mayoral post while 183 people are contesting for councillor posts under 33 wards. Sixty-eight candidates are contesting the polls for 11 reserved seats, said Returning Officer Abdul Baten. The mayoral candidates are: Amiruzzaman from Islami Andolon Bangladesh, Abu Raihan from Bangladesh Congress, Touhidur Rahman Mandal from Khelafat Majlish, Mostafizur Rahman from Jatiya Party, Shafier Rahman from Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Hosne Ara Lutfa Dalia from Awami League, Khorshed Alam from Zaker Party, Mehedi Hasan and Latifur Rahman as independent candidates. Campaigning in the Rangpur City Corporation election ended on Sunday midnight amid much enthusiasm. A total of 229 presiding officers, 1,349 assistant presiding officers and 2,698 polling officers are performing their duties to maintain order in the voting centres. The first Rangpur City Corporation election was held on December 21, 2017. The tenure of the current mayor will expire on February 18, 2023.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal has said the Election Commission is not under any pressure, and is doing its job. He said this in response to a question from journalists at Nirbachan Bhaban after visiting the Zila Parishad election monitoring cell on Sunday. Read:Gaibandha-5 polls: Not a reckless decision, says CEC Zila Parishad elections will be held tomorrow (October 17, 2022) – 9am to 2pm – in 57 districts. The EC will monitor the polls through CCTV cameras, from the monitoring cell at Nirbachan Bhaban. The Election Commission on Wednesday suspended the by-elections to Gainbandha-5 parliamentary seat over widespread allegations of vote rigging and voter intimidation. The CEC said the practice of using CCTV cameras is recent. “We can monitor the elections from here. This is a good practice.” “We belong to no party. We want voters to be able to cast their votes. We are using CCTV cameras for ensuring this,” he added. Read:Deal with any intimidation in next polls, CEC asks DCs, SPs In response to a question over how the EC will monitor so many centres through CCTV during the national polls, Election Commissioner Alamgir said, “There will be 400,000 polling booths at 40,000 or 42,000 polling stations during the national election. The five election commissioners alone will not monitor the national election, more manpower will be engaged for monitoring.” In response to another question, the election commissioner said that CCTV cameras will be used in every centre during tomorrow’s Zila Parishad election, as done with Gaibandha-5 by-election. Voting in the Zila Parishad elections will be held at 925 booths in 462 centres across the  country and 60,866 voters will cast their votes.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal on Tuesday said that the commission wants all political parties to take part in the next parliamentary election, even though it does not always guarantee a free and fair voting. “If the National election is participatory, it does not mean that there will not be vote stealing. But participation of all parties creates a balance,” he told a delegation of Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh at the EC building. He said holding an election is difficult task in the context of Bangladesh. This will require everyone's sincere cooperation, he added. “We have repeatedly talked about participatory elections. When elections are participatory, there is a change in people's perception. But participation does not mean that there will be no injustice or vote theft,” he said. He said the EC wants to hold free, fair, participatory and peaceful elections. “This is certainly what we want from the Election Commission,” he said. “You have to keep a watch on the duties that the Election Commission will perform. If we have done something wrong, we sincerely hope you will feel free to find it out immediately,” he added. He said that politics will disappear if the elections cannot be kept alive. “We will definitely consider your comments. Our aim is to make the elections as peaceful as possible. We are sincerely trying. Active participation of stakeholders is required. We want everyone's cooperation and support,” he said. An 11-member delegation of Bikalpa Dhara Bnagladesh, led by Secretary General Major (retd) Abdul Mannan, participated in the dialogue. Four election commissioners and senior officials of the EC were present also present.

Although new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal has promised to work for ensuring fair and beautiful elections, BNP on Tuesday said there is no guarantee that his words will be translated into actions. “The previous Commission also delivered sweet talks initially like the current one. Then he (KM Nurul Huda) shamelessly implemented every programme and agenda of the government and snatched people’s votes at night,” said BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi. Talking to reporters at BNP founder Zaiur Rahman’s grave, he also accused the Nurul Huad-led Election Commission (EC) of holding unilateral polls. Read: BNP slams Dr Zafrullah for advising to accept EC “So, there’s no guarantee of his (new CEC’s) words. His activities in the past suggest that he was rewarded by this government,” the BNP leader observed. He also said people do not believe the current CEC who got so many rewards from the government will be able to hold a free and fair election as the Prime Minister is there on his head. ” Earlier in the day, Rizvi together with the members of the newly formed committee of the Dhaka city unit of Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha (Jasas) paid homage to Zia by placing wreaths at his grave. Kazi Habibul Awal who took over on Monday sought cooperation from all political parties in holding a fair and credible election. He also said a consensus among political parties is needed for holding free and fair elections. "I’ll humbly request all to join elections to restore the democratic process. We'll try to give the nation a beautiful election.” On Saturday, President Abdul Hamid appointed retired senior secretory Awal as the CEC and made four others- former district and sessions judge Rashida Sultana, Brig Gen (retd) Md Ahsan Habib Khan, former EC secretary Md Alamgir, and former energy and mineral resources division senior secretary Anisur Rahman -- election commissioners. As his attention was drawn to the new CEC’s eagerness to invite BNP to a tea party, Rizvi said their party joined the tea party of previous CEC KM Nurul Huda where he promised to not use Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the polls. “But he used EVMs in the elections at the behest of the Prime Minister and held the day’s voting at night, he alleged. Read: New CEC a staunch Awami Leaguer, claims BNP The BNP leader also alleged that the government constituted the new EC with persons who hold the spirit of Awami League. "This Election Commission and search committee are nothing but a farce. They served under the Prime Minister who also promoted them in the past. So, their past activities don’t support that they would go beyond the PM,” he observed. Rizvi said a non-partisan government is the only guarantee of a free and fair election.

The High Court on Monday stayed the by-election to Sylhet-3 constituency till August 5 due to the worsening Covid situation in the country. The virtual  HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim passed the order following a writ petition filed over the election. Read:Sylhet Regional Election Officer dies of Covid The election was scheduled to be held on July28. Earlier in the morning , Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir, on behalf of six Supreme Court lawyers and seven local voters, including Saleh Ahmed, filed the writ petition seeking stay of the polls. Read: Sylhet scenario as strict lockdown resumes Besides, a legal notice was issued to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Sunday to suspend voting in the polls. The Sylhet-3 constituency fell vacant after MP Mahmud Us Samad Chowdhury died of coronavirus on March 11.

The number of voters in the country has now increased to 10.98 crore (nearly 110 million) following inclusion of some 70 lakh new voters, according to the Election Commission’s final updated electoral roll.

BNP on Monday opposed the move to use the electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the upcoming elections to Chattogram City Corporation, saying the Election Commission took the decision to rig votes again.

Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda has said the voter turnout in the elections to the two Dhaka city corporations was below 30 percent.