EC plans voting in 1,050 UPs in first phase
Graphics: Agamir Somoy
Local government elections are scheduled to begin on 21 January and the Election Commission (EC) aims to hold voting in 1,050 Union Parishads during the first phase, giving priority to those unions whose terms have expired.
EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed confirmed the matter on Sunday. He said, “We want to finish voting in most UPs in the first and second phases. This number will decrease in the third, fourth, and fifth phases. Many UPs have become eligible for voting due to the expiration of their terms; taking this into consideration, we are completing the first phase.”
The list will be finalized phase by phase after evaluating overall factors, including weather conditions and coastal areas. The EC plans to complete the majority of the total 4,500 unions within the first two phases.
He added that voting will take place simultaneously across all union parishads within a single upazila. For this purpose, the preparation of a preliminary list is underway. To conduct verification, information has been sent to the field level to check whether there are any ongoing legal cases or boundary complications.
Akhtar noted that it will be possible to finalize the list by Thursday. Preparations for electoral materials ahead of the vote are ongoing. Alongside finalizing the voter list, preparations have been made for printing three types of ballot papers.
