Dhaka: Senior Secretary of the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat Akhtar Ahmed announced that the commission is preparing to conduct the 13th National Parliamentary Election and a referendum on the same day. He shared this information during a briefing with journalists at Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital’s Agargaon.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Akhtar Ahmed emphasized the commission’s mental readiness for the simultaneous events, stating, “We know that both the national election and the referendum will be held on the same day. Therefore, we already had that preparation. a mental readiness. This is how it should be.” He further explained that the EC has been proactively laying the groundwork in anticipation of these responsibilities.
To ensure a seamless process, the commission plans to conduct a mock voting rehearsal on Saturday from 8 am to 12 noon at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Government Girls’ High School. Ahmed noted, “Since both the national election and the referendum will take place simultaneously, we want to refine our experience further so we can conduct it properly.”
The EC will use insights from the mock voting to make informed decisions about logistical adjustments. “Based on this, we will determine whether the number of polling centers needs to be increased or decreased, or kept the same. How much adjustment the number of voting booths will require, whether adjustments are needed at all-these things need to be assessed. That is why we are conducting the mock voting,” Akhtar Ahmed concluded.