There is definitely a level playing field: EC secretary

Senior secretary of the election commission (EC) secretariat Akhtar Ahmed has said that there is definitely a level playing field in the election.

He advised that if there are any complaints, they should be reported to the electoral inquiry and investigation committees.

The senior secretary made the remarks while responding to journalists’ questions at a briefing held at the Election Building in the capital’s Agargaon today, Monday.

The EC secretary was asked about issues related to the electoral code of conduct.

In reply, he said, “We, through you, telling everyone that for violations of the code of conduct, there are 300 electoral inquiry and adjudication committees for the 300 constituencies. Inform them, inform the returning officer, with a copy to us. From here, we will follow up on the matter.”

The EC briefed diplomats yesterday, Sunday. Regarding this, the EC secretary said that diplomats were briefed on the national parliamentary election and the referendum.

A total of 41 representatives, including ambassadors and heads of missions, were present. Government officials and representatives from the Chief Adviser’s Office also attended. The election commission presented the necessary progress, and the diplomats also had issues they wanted to know about.

The EC secretary said that diplomats mainly wanted to know about the security arrangements and how long it would take to announce the election results. Specific information was provided on security arrangements.

Details were shared regarding the police force, army, air force, navy, and other forces—Rapid Action Battalion and Ansar—including numerical deployments and how many personnel would be on duty. This time, 25,000 to 30,000 body-worn cameras will be used by police at polling centres, he added.

The EC secretary said that it usually takes 3–4 hours to announce results at polling centres. However, counting postal ballots will cause delays.

Akhtar Ahmed said, “According to our calculations… the centre results will be completed on time. Three to three and a half hours or four hours… depending on the number of votes cast.”

He also said that counting will take longer at centres where votes from expatriates are received by the respective returning officers.