As voting concluded nationwide in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad Election and the concurrent referendum, election officials have begun the process of counting ballots.
Polling began simultaneously at 7:30 AM in 42,779 centres nationwide and officially closed at 4:30 PM.
However, election officials confirmed that voters who were still waiting in line at closing time would be allowed to cast their ballots.
Although turnout appeared low in many centres during the early hours, crowds grew steadily as the day progressed. A significant number of young voters were seen at polling stations, casting their ballots to help shape the country’s future.
The focus now shifts to the counting process and the announcement of results.
Voting was suspended in Sherpur-3 constituency due to the death of a candidate. The Election Commission (EC) said polling in that seat will be held later under a revised schedule.
According to EC sources, ballot papers for the parliamentary election and the referendum will first be sorted separately before counting begins. Election officials will then count the two sets of ballots independently.
The EC said a total of 127,711,793 voters were eligible to cast their ballots this year. Of them, 64,825,361 are male voters, 62,885,200 female voters, and 1,232 are third-gender (hijra) voters.
Scattered incidents were reported across the country during the day. In Khulna’s Bhairab area, a BNP leader reportedly died after falling ill due to excitement. There were also allegations in some places of attempts to capture polling centres and cast fake votes. Isolated clashes and chases left several people injured.
However, authorities said the overall situation remained under control due to strict vigilance by the armed forces and law enforcement agencies, including the Army, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Ansar. No reports of polling suspension were officially confirmed during the day.
Leaders of the 11-party Electoral Alliance, however, demanded suspension of voting in several centres in Cumilla-8, Shariatpur-2 and Patuakhali-1 constituencies, alleging that voters were unable to cast ballots freely.
The claim was made by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Advocate Moazzem Hossain Helal after a meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Thursday afternoon.
A total of 785,225 officials were deployed to conduct the election, including 42,779 presiding officers, 247,482 assistant presiding officers, and 494,964 polling officers.
For the 299 constituencies where voting took place, 50 out of 60 registered political parties contested. A total of 2,028 candidates ran in the election; 1,755 from political parties and 273 independent candidates.
Among them were 83 female candidates (63 party-nominated and 20 independent) and 1,946 male candidates (1,692 party-nominated and 253 independent).
Security was reinforced nationwide. Around 103,000 Army personnel were deployed, alongside 5,000 Navy members in 17 coastal constituencies across five districts and 3,500 Air Force personnel. Additionally, 37,453 BGB members, 3,585 Coast Guard personnel, 187,603 police officers, 9,349 RAB members, 567,868 Ansar members and 1,922 BNCC members were tasked with ensuring election security.
With voting completed, attention now turns to the counting of ballots and the official announcement of results.
SH
