Dhaka //

Ahead of the 13th national elections, the Election Commission (EC) has announced a roadmap, prioritizing 24 important tasks, including delimitation of parliamentary constituencies, finalization of voter lists, registration of political parties and finalization of registration of domestic observer organizations.

On Thursday, Election Commission Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed announced the roadmap for the national elections.

The EC said that 24 issues will be implemented in 207 steps on the occasion of the elections. Specific deadlines for these are mentioned in the roadmap. However, the EC has not yet set a final date for voting or schedule.

Some EC officials said that 24 action plans have been set in the roadmap, including holding a dialogue with all stakeholders, including political parties, in the last week of September. Other notable issues include preparation of voter lists, reform of electoral laws and regulations, registration of political parties, finalization of parliamentary constituency boundaries, observer and journalist policy, granting permission for foreign observer and journalist policy, consolidation of amendments to election-related laws and regulations and formulation of manual guidelines, printing of posters and identity cards, collection of election materials, adaptation of transparent ballot boxes and election materials, preparation of election budget and budget allocation, establishment of polling stations, manpower and administrative arrangements for elections, law and order activities, inter-ministerial communication, ICT support, election campaigning of political parties, motivation and awareness activities, consolidation of telecommunication systems, display of results, promotion and publication measures (publication through electronic means), installation of digital monitors and equipment, dissemination of private primary results, postal voting and miscellaneous.

Dialogue with stakeholders: The EC will hold dialogue with eight categories of stakeholders focused on elections. This dialogue with stakeholders including political parties, civil society and journalists will start from the last week of September. It will take one and a half months to complete. It will continue till the first week of November.

Voter list update: The supplementary draft voter list of the second phase has already been published, which will be finalized on August 31. And the final voter list for the 13th National Parliament election will be published on November 30. The draft for this will be published on November 1.

Election laws: Amendments to all laws will be proposed and formulated by August 31. In addition, amendments to the Parliamentary Constituency Delimitation Act, amendments to the Voter List Act, finalization of the Polling Station Policy and Management for Parliamentary Elections, finalization of the Domestic and Foreign Observers and Journalists Policy, Election Conduct (Amendment) Act 2025 with symbols, Election Officers (Special Provisions) Act 1991, Election Commission Secretariat Act 2009; These are under process in the Law Ministry which the EC hopes to complete by September 30.

Political party registration: Will be finalized by September 30. Earlier, the EC has directed the parties that passed the primary selection to submit their field investigation reports by August 31.

Delimitation: The EC will finalize the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies and publish the gazette by September 15. And they will prepare and publish the GIS map by September 30.

Other issues: Other items on the roadmap include – Election observer registration will be finalized by October 22 and registration certificates will be issued by November 15. All activities to grant permission to foreign observers and journalists will be completed by November 15.

Meanwhile, the EC will hold a meeting with the Ministry of Information, ICT Ministry, T&T, BTRC and various mobile operator companies to disseminate election information by November 15. A letter will be sent to the Cabinet Division and the Ministry of Home Affairs to join the training and briefing of field administration and police officers by October 31. The printing of election manuals, guidelines, posters, etc. will be completed by September 15. The EC will complete all training programs from August 29, 4 to 5 days before the polling. The collection and distribution of all types of election materials will be completed by December 31. The usable transparent ballots will be finalized by November 30. The budget for the 13th National Parliament election will be finalized on November 15. A meeting to allocate funds for the law and order forces will be held between November 16 and November 20.

The EC wants to complete all activities related to manpower and administrative arrangements for the election by November 30. In addition, the preparation of the panel of polling officers will be completed by September 30. The first meeting on the law and order situation will be held on September 25.

The Commission wants to complete all ICT-related work by October 31. The EC wants to complete awareness campaign work by November 30. The EC plans to keep the telecommunications system operational, how the results will be published and disseminated, determine the activities related to the dissemination of private results, and complete all activities for voting in postal ballots for expatriates by January 2026.

Incidentally, Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus has announced that the thirteenth parliamentary elections will be held in the first half of February next year before Ramadan. A letter in this regard has also been given to the Election Commission. Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin said that the schedule will be announced about two months before the voting date. After the discussion at the Election Commission meeting, it was announced that the EC will announce the schedule in the first half of December.

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