TDS Desk:

The results of the referendum and parliamentary elections will be announced together, said EC Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed.

He said, “Postal ballots for those who have already registered to vote within the country are being sent out starting today. This includes election officers, law enforcement personnel, and prisoners in jail.”

In a briefing at the EC office in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Monday afternoon, Akhtar Ahmed addressed questions regarding the vote counting process.

He explained that while the vote counting for the national parliament election and the referendum would be done separately, both would proceed simultaneously. He also noted that counting postal ballots might take extra time.

Elaborating on this, the EC Secretary said that usually one polling center is set up for every three to three and a half thousand voters in a constituency, and each center has a returning officer responsible for counting the votes. However, for postal ballots, the total number of postal ballots in a district is counted, and then the vote counting is done per district.

In some districts, the number of postal ballots might exceed those from five to six or more polling centers. In such cases, it is normal for a returning officer to take more time to count the votes, he added.

Addressing the issue of election code violations, the EC Secretary explained, “There is a time gap between filing a complaint directly with the EC and lodging one with the Electoral Inquiry and Adjudication Committee.”

He noted that if complaints are made directly to the EC, they are often routed through bureaucratic channels, which may delay the process, causing the urgency of the complaint to diminish over time.

He emphasized that complaints regarding code violations should be filed directly with the respective Electoral Inquiry and Adjudication Committees or returning officers in each of the 300 constituencies. A copy of the complaint should also be sent to the EC, which will follow up promptly to ensure swift resolution.