The ballot papers for the 12th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) elections will be sent to the districts 3 to 4 days ahead instead of in the morning of the polling day, said officials of the Election Commission (EC).
However, they said, the ballot papers will reach the polling centres in the morning on the day of the election.
The EC has taken the decision to ensure presence of the ballot papers and the boxes at the centres and averting any untoward incidents, said the EC officials.
"Ballot papers will be printed after symbols are allotted to the candidates and the ballot papers will be sent to the districts three to four days before the poling day. However, the papers will be sent to the polling centres in the morning of the polling day," said Jahangir Alam, secretary and spokesman to the EC while talking to journalists at the commission building in Agargaon on Thursday.
Asked whether the EC is feeling any political pressure since the polls schedule announcement, he said that it is clearly stated in the RPO that some matters must be approved by the government during the election period.
Earlier in the evening on November 15, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on Wednesday announced the polls schedule for the next JS polls.
As per the announcement, the 12th Jatiya Sangsad election will be held on January 7, 2024.
He also stated that political parties will be able to submit nominations for candidacies till November 30.
The EC will scrutinize the nominations from December 1 to December 4. Appeals against the nominations can be submitted from December 6 to December 15 and nominations need to be withdrawn by December 17.
The CEC also said political parties will be able to distribute symbols within December 18 and the election campaign will officially kick off on December 18. The campaign duration will end on 8:00am on January 5.
The CEC mentioned that the number of total voters are around 11.97 crore and the voting will be held in 2.62 lakh booths in about 42,000 centres.
