Schedule for 2nd phase municipality polls this week

Elections will be held in around 60 municipalities in the second phase in mid-January. The election schedule is like to be announced this week.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Election Commission (EC) at Nirbachon Bhabon in the capital’s Agargaon on Sunday (November 29) afternoon. The meeting was chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda.

EC Senior Secretary Md Alamgir briefed media after the meeting in the evening.

This time EC wants to hold municipal elections in four phases. In the first phase, the schedule for polls in 25 municipalities has already been announced on December 28.

According to the EC secretary, it has been decided to hold elections in 169 municipalities in three more phases. The 2nd phase of voting will take place in mid-January while 3rd phase in late January and 4th phase in mid-February.

He said voting will be held through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in 30 municipalities at every phase. The rest will be held in the ballots. As it is winter, voting will be held from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. The schedule for the second phase will be announced very soon.

There are 329 municipalities across the country. According to the law concerned, elections must be held within 90 days of the expiration date.

Regarding the voter registration of expatriates, the EC secretary said, “It has been decided in the meeting that there is no need to pay fees to register as expatriate voters.”