Gazette of polling centres for 13th parliamentary election published

Ahead of the upcoming national election, the Election Commission (EC) has started publishing the list of polling centres for all constituencies in gazette form.

EC deputy secretary Monir Hossain said the gazette publication began on January 15 after approval of final lists. According to the schedule, the 13th parliamentary election and referendum will be held on February 12.

Under the Representation of the People Order (RPO), the final list of polling centres must be published in the official gazette at least 25 days before voting.

For the first time, postal voting has been introduced through online registration for three categories of voters, including expatriates. More than 1.53 million citizens have already completed registration.

The gazette includes constituency names, upazilas and unions, polling centre names and locations, voter area details, and the number of polling centres for women, men and hijra voters. It also mentions the number of registered postal voters and the locations of ballot counting centres.

The election will involve nearly 130 million voters, with a total of 42,761 polling centres and over 245,000 polling booths. Based on centre importance, 16 to 18 security personnel will be deployed at each centre.

EC officials said additional marking places have been arranged in each booth as the election and referendum will be held together.

Home adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said 59 per cent of polling centres have been identified as risky. Of the total centres, 8,780 are highly important, 16,548 important and 17,433 general.

Nearly 900,000 law enforcement personnel will be deployed nationwide from February 8 to 14.