UP elections likely to begin in first half of October

The Election Commission has formulated a primary action plan (roadmap) ahead of the local government elections. 

Separate roadmaps have been made for the Union Parishad, Upazila Parishad, Municipality and City Corporation elections. These may be finalised and published by the end of this month. 

The Union Parishad elections are planned to start in the first half of October by announcing the schedule in the second half of August.

Election Commission sources said that the election time has been set by dividing the entire country into four regions for the local government elections — Haor and North-Eastern regions, Hilly and Coastal regions, Riverine and Char areas, and Plains and Urban areas. 

The Election Commission will start the local government election process by taking votes for Union Parishads in the Haor and North-Eastern regions.

As part of the preparations for the elections, letters will be sent to the field level to finalise the polling stations by July 31. Those who will be 18 years old by July 31 will be able to vote in the local government elections. 

Arrangements can be made to announce the schedule 41 to 45 days before the voting period in the first half of October. 

A total of 500 female voters and 600 male voters will be allocated in each booth. It has also been asked to review the law related to loan default.

The initial roadmap for local government elections highlights some of the challenges of phased elections and notes that in the past the time gap between one phase of elections and the next was short. 

This created conflicting situations in various activities at the field level, including filing nomination papers, scrutiny, appeal settlement, symbol allocation, appointment of polling officers, training and transportation of ballot papers. 

Due to the short time gap between elections, it has been difficult for members of the law enforcement agencies, including polling stations, to move from one area to another to perform their duties.

Regarding the determination of the timing and phases of elections, it has been said that in the past elections have been held simultaneously across the country in several phases or individually. 

However, in determining the phases, the election schedule is decided by considering the special geographical conditions of different regions of the country (such as haor, char areas, hill districts), weather, public examinations (secondary and higher secondary) and religious festivals.

The phases will be determined in coordination with the annual academic calendar of the Ministry of Education, the Meteorological Department and the education boards. The work of amending the laws and rules of the local government elections will be completed by August 15.

In addition, a summary of all the work to be done before and after the announcement of the schedule has been mentioned in the roadmap. 

The work to be done before the announcement of the schedule includes amending the laws and rules, formulating and finalising manual guidelines in light of the amended laws and rules, preparing various manuals and guidelines related to election management and training, collecting and making suitable for use election materials and transparent ballot boxes. 

Manuals, forms, packets, training guidelines, posters, identity cards, election materials will be prepared, collected and printed; nomination papers, guidelines for filling nomination papers, ballot papers and election materials will be sent to the field level. Preparation of the election budget and allocation related activities before and after the election will be completed, voter lists with photos will be finalised, drafts will be published to finalise the polling stations, claims and objections will be resolved and approved, and the gazette will be published 15 days before the voting.

A meeting will be held with all forces, including the army, 15 days before the announcement of the schedule. After that, the Election Commission will remove the propaganda materials, prepare a panel of polling officers and announce the schedule. 

After the announcement of the schedule, the Election Commission will issue various circulars including the appointment of returning and assistant returning officers, appointment of executive magistrates and judicial magistrates. Appointment of regional officers to receive complaints, letters to various ministries to collect information on loan defaulters, circulars related to law and order will be issued and meetings will be held. 

In addition, the panel of polling officers will be finalised, a tribunal will be formed, training activities will be conducted, and local and foreign journalists and observers will be allowed to observe the vote.

The roadmap states that the activities on the voting day will include collection and distribution of results, receiving results by post, publication of the results gazette within three to four days of voting, and publication of the names of the selected candidates within six to seven days.

The roadmap for the Union Parishad elections notes that elections were held in 289 Union Parishads before the 2021-22 fiscal year. In the 2021-22 fiscal year, 3,981 union parishad elections were held, 110 in the 2022-23 fiscal year, and 92 in the 2023-24 fiscal year. One hundred and eight union parishads have not been elected for a long time due to various reasons including lawsuits and boundary complications. There are a total of 4,580 union parishads in the country. Of these, 3,981 will be eligible for election this year. The rest will be eligible for election around 2027 and 2028.

According to the roadmap for municipal elections, 320 out of the total 330 municipalities in the country are eligible for election. Due to legal complications, 10 municipalities are not eligible for election. The roadmap for upazila parishads shows that all are eligible for election as no upazila has an elected representative. According to the roadmap for city corporations, all of the 13 city corporations, including the new city corporation Bogura, are eligible for election as no elected representative is in any of them.

While asking when the local government elections could begin, Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud told Daily Samakal, “We have been moving forward with the work since October. If it is in October, the schedule will be announced 45 days before. Eighty percent are certain that the local government elections will begin with the union parishad elections. There are also preparations for the municipality elections.”

Replying to another question about the overall preparations for the elections, he said that the ballot boxes are ready for the vote. Necessary preparations are being made, including the appointment of presiding officers and polling officers.