Historic 13th Parliamentary Election and Referendum Conclude

Bangladesh witnessed the culmination of the historic 13th National Parliamentary Election and nationwide referendum today, with polling taking place across the country in a largely peaceful atmosphere. Voting began at 7:30 a.m. and continued uninterrupted until 4:30 p.m., with reports from the capital and other constituencies indicating that no major incidents disrupted the process.

According to directives from the Election Commission, voters who were already standing in line at polling stations by 4:30 p.m. would still be allowed to cast their ballots, while no new voters would be permitted to enter the queues after the official closing time. A presiding officer at a Dhaka polling centre confirmed this arrangement, reassuring citizens that anyone in line at the designated hour would have their votes counted, ensuring that no voter is disenfranchised due to timing.

Observations from several key constituencies, including Gulshan-Banani and Dhanmondi, revealed large crowds, particularly among female voters, with long queues extending outside polling stations. Despite the waiting times, there was a palpable sense of enthusiasm, as citizens exercised their democratic rights with visible excitement.

By 11 a.m., many polling stations had already seen between 20% and 25% of their registered voters cast ballots. For instance, at Banani’s Constituency 51 polling centre, 795 votes had been recorded out of a total of 3,510 expected ballots, representing 22% voter turnout by mid-morning.

The Election Commission reported that ballot voting occurred in 299 parliamentary constituencies. The election in Sherpur-3 was postponed following the death of a candidate. Across the remaining constituencies, 51 registered political parties fielded candidates, while 275 individuals contested as independents. The major parties’ candidate numbers were as follows: BNP – 291, Islami Andolan – 258, Jamaat-e-Islami – 229, and Jatiya Party – 198. Additionally, the National Citizens’ Party presented 32 candidates under the ‘Shapla Kali’ symbol.

The electorate comprises 127,711,899 registered voters, including 64,825,154 men and 62,885,525 women, reflecting a near-equal gender distribution. For security and smooth conduct of the election, nearly 900,000 personnel from the military, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), police, and Ansar forces were deployed, while approximately 800,000 election officials oversaw voting at 42,779 polling stations. Domestic and international election observers numbered around 56,000.

Key Election Statistics:

The historic voting day, largely peaceful and well-organised, reflects the high level of civic engagement in Bangladesh’s democratic process, with citizens showing eagerness to participate despite long queues and the challenges of a nationwide exercise of this scale.