The Election Commission on Sunday started sending transparent ballot boxes to 10 regional election offices for holding the next parliamentary elections.
“We have started sending ballot boxes to the regional election offices from today as part of the preparation to conduct the upcoming 12th national parliamentary elections,” Ashok Kumar Debnath, additional secretary of EC told Bangladesh Post on Sunday.
“We have got the certified copy of transparent ballot boxes from the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI). The institute on Sunday sent the positive report after examining the transparent ballot boxes,” he said.
After getting the report, the commission has started sending the ballot boxes to the regional election offices to hold the next general polls in free, fair and impartial manner, Debnath said.
“The Commission has given the responsibility of security to the police to ensure sending the materials safely to the respective election offices. It is the responsibility of law enforcement to provide security during the transportation of the boxes and other materials. The law enforcement agencies is providing security during field level transportation of the goods,” he added.
According to the commission, more than 300,000 transparent ballot boxes will be required for the election. But the commission had 267,000 boxes. So, 80,000 new boxes were bought.
The EC received 40,000 boxes in the first installment. Earlier, the commission had sent the ballot boxes to BSTI to check for quality testing.
According to the constitution, the national election must be held within 90 days before the five-year term of the parliament expires. The 11th parliament began its first sitting on January 30, 2019.
