The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday revealed its roadmap for the 13th Parliamentary Election, saying the election schedule will be announced at least 60 days before the polling date.
EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed, during a press briefing on Thursday, confirmed efforts to finalise the schedule accordingly, though the exact date for polling remains tentative.
"I don't yet know the exact date of the election. But I can confirm that the schedule will be announced 60 days before the election," he said.
In reply to queries about a date for the election, he said, "We have been told by the office of the chief adviser to make arrangements for the election before the next Ramadan.
"As far as we understand, Ramadan may begin either on 17, 18, or 19 February, as the exact date of Ramadan is dependent on moon sighting. So, you may calculate accordingly."
The breakdown
The roadmap prioritised 24 key tasks, which include finalising constituency delimitation, preparing the final voter list, registering political parties, and accrediting local observer organisations.
With only five months to go, the EC plans to complete all preparations by November before announcing the schedule.
The roadmap outlines some 207 steps for the completion of those 24 priority tasks.
- EC will hold consultations with eight categories of stakeholders, including political parties and civil society, from late September to the first week of November.
- The final voter list is expected to be completed by 30 November. Citizens born on or before 31 October 2007 will be included in the pool of eligible voters.
- The second draft supplementary list has already been published and will be finalised on 31 August. After the 31 October supplementary list, the final list will be published on 30 November and printed on 5 December 2025.
- At least three days before the schedule announcement, constituency-based voter lists (with and without photographs) will be sent digitally to registration officers. Printed copies will also be provided before nomination scrutiny.
- Any amendments to electoral laws and regulations will be sent to the Law Ministry by 31 August and will be finalised in 11 steps by September 30. The Electoral Code of Conduct and Election Conduct Rules will also be submitted and finalised by the same timeline.
- EC is planning to complete registration of the aspiring political parties by 30 September, after they complete around 12 steps.
- Constituency delimitation will be finalised by 15 September. Guidelines for domestic and international observers and journalists will be completed in nine steps by 15 November.
- The Cabinet Division and the Home Ministry will be notified by 31 October regarding the training and briefing of field administration and police officers.
- Training of polling officials' trainers will be concluded by 30 November.
- Consolidation of electoral laws, manuals, instructions, posters, and ID cards will be completed by 15 November. Primary election materials will be ready and distributed by 1 December.
- Transparent ballot boxes will be inspected and readied by 30 November. Postal ballot costs, identification of remote areas, and budget allocation for law enforcement will be finalised by mid-to-late November.
- The draft list of polling stations will be finalised by 5 October. Within 4 to 5 days of the schedule announcement, the list will be verified and submitted to the EC. The final gazette of polling stations will be published at least 25 days before polling. Panels of polling officials will be prepared by 30 September.
- The first meeting with law enforcement agencies will be held on 25 September, followed by inter-ministerial meetings before the announcement of the schedule. All election-related software will be ready by 31 October.
- AI-based monitoring will continue until the election ends.
- Law enforcement agencies will be deployed two weeks before the polling day.
Training programmes
The Election Training Institute (ETI) will conduct 23 categories of training, covering 1,168,000 individuals, including 1,089,000 presiding officers, assistant presiding officers, and polling officials.
This projection is based on the possibility of around 45,000 polling centres being required.
Training of core trainers will begin on 29 August, marking the start of the parliamentary election training programme. Around 10,850 political workers will be trained as "master trainers" to instruct their polling agents on duties, voting procedures, and electoral laws.
Other arrangements
Election symbols will be allocated 30 days before polling.
The voter list will be updated three weeks before the election. Postal ballots for prison inmates will be dispatched two weeks before polling, and ballots from overseas voters must reach the EC one week prior to the election day.
Earlier, on Wednesday, the EC approved the draft roadmap at its commission meeting.
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