The Election Commission (EC) has issued a set of special instructions ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections and referendum, including the use of eco-friendly banners at polling stations, guidelines on appointing polling officials and measures to avoid voter confusion where candidates share identical names.
The EC said all polling stations must display specially designed awareness banners, produced under environmentally friendly standards. The banners will be made of 80 percent natural cotton and 20 percent viscose-blended fabric, measuring three feet by five feet, and printed using reactive digital technology. Each banner’s maximum cost has been fixed at Tk 686, inclusive of taxes, and will be fitted with PVC pipes and hanging hooks.
On the appointment of polling officials, the commission said presiding officers may be recruited from neighbouring upazilas if there is a shortage of personnel. However, it warned against indiscriminate transfers, stressing that presiding officers from an entire constituency cannot be reassigned to others en masse.
The EC said that in the interest of fair elections, the panel should be formed taking into account the skills and position of local-level officers. Inter-upazila appointments will be effective only if there is a logical reason for the manpower shortage. However, the commission is taking a strict stance on not transferring officers from one constituency to another constituency en masse to maintain balance in the case of presiding officers.
The concerned returning officer and district administration have been requested to take necessary measures as per the decision of the Election Commission.
What the EC will do if multiple candidates have the same name in the same constituency: If multiple candidates have the same name in the same constituency, the EC has issued special instructions to confirm their identity. In this case, it has been decided to use the names of the candidate's father, mother or husband to differentiate the ballot paper and the candidate list.
The instructions state that according to the election conduct rules, the list of names of the competing candidates is prepared in alphabetical order. However, the EC has decided to avoid confusion among voters if there are multiple candidates with the same name in the same constituency.
The Election Commission (EC) said that if the name is the same, the name of the candidate's father, husband or mother should be added to the candidate list. If necessary, the names should be arranged in order of the allocated symbols.
VWB and Mother and Child Support Program to be run under the district administration: The EC has decided to keep two important social security programs of the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs operational during the parliamentary elections and referendum in the public interest.
However, to ensure transparency and keep the elections free from influence, the two programs will be run under the direct supervision of the concerned district administration instead of the local public representatives. The two programs are Vulnerable Women Benefit (VWB) and Mother and Child Support Program (MCBP).
As per the decision of the Commission, the Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs has been requested to run the two mentioned projects through the DC until the election activities are over.
Usually, after the announcement of the national election schedule, there is a possibility of public representatives having influence on various developmental or social security programs at the local level.
The Commission has directed the district administration to perform this duty to keep these services free from influence and impartiality of the elections and at the same time in the public interest.
Bd-pratidin English/TR
