The Election Commission (EC) will begin hearings on objections to the draft boundaries of parliamentary constituencies on August 24, Akhter Ahmed, senior secretary to the EC, announced on Monday.
Speaking at a briefing at the EC headquarters in the capital, he said the hearings would continue for four days, after which the new constituency delimitations would be finalised by August 31.
Earlier in the day, the EC issued a notification stating that Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin would preside over the hearings, joined by four other commissioners and the EC's senior secretary.
The sessions will cover objections from across the country.
The EC published the draft boundaries for all 300 constituencies on July 30. To balance voter numbers, Gazipur was allotted an additional seat, raising its total to six, while Bagerhat's proposed seats were reduced from four to three.
As of August 10, a total of 1,760 objections had been filed concerning 82 constituencies.
Electoral roadmap or action plan awaiting approval
On the EC's broader action plan, EC Secretary Ahmed said the draft work plan had already been prepared.
"This is now being coordinated. The electoral roadmap is awaiting approval from the EC, and it will be completed within this week.
EC to keep polling centre numbers static
In its monthly coordination meeting on 18 August, the EC also discussed policies for setting up polling centres nationwide.
Ahmed said the EC has decided to keep the number of polling centres unchanged from previous elections.
"Not increasing the number does not mean keeping everything exactly as before. The voter ratio per centre may be adjusted slightly, and some centres may be shifted, but the overall number will remain static."
For example, if a booth previously accommodated 500 male voters, it could now be adjusted to 600 by redistributing voters from nearby centres.
"Such measures will allow us to maintain the same number of polling centres while balancing voter distribution effectively," he added.
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