EC yet to receive govt instructions on holding referendum

The election commission (EC) has not yet formally begun preparations to hold a referendum simultaneously with the Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) election.

As of yesterday, Tuesday, the EC secretariat had not received any official directive or letter from the government regarding the referendum. However, EC officials have been holding informal discussions among themselves on the matter.

The interim government has decided that a referendum will be held on the same day as the national election to implement the July National Charter, which outlines reforms across various sectors of the state.

The announcement was made on 13 November, the same day the order to implement the July National Charter (constitution amendment) was issued.

The government has already announced that the national parliamentary election will be held in the first half of February. EC’s preparations for the election are in their final stages. The election schedule may be announced in the first week of December. The EC will also be responsible for conducting the referendum.

A question has arisen as to whether expatriate Bangladeshi voters, who will be able to cast their votes in the parliamentary election through postal ballots, will also have the opportunity to participate in the referendum.

According to relevant sources, a final decision has not yet been taken on whether expatriates will be able to vote in the referendum. The EC is, however, inclined to allow it.

Although the order to implement the July Charter has been issued, there is still no law or ordinance specifically governing the holding of a referendum. A new law must therefore be enacted for this purpose. The government will create the necessary law or ordinance.

EC officials believe that regulations may also be required under a future Referendum Act to administer the process. To enable expatriate participation, provisions to that effect would need to be incorporated into the relevant referendum-related law or regulations. The national election law, the Representation of the People Order (RPO), cannot be used to conduct a referendum.

EC sources also stated that allowing expatriate Bangladeshis to vote in the referendum would not entail significant additional costs. Referendum ballots would simply need to be sent along with the parliamentary election ballots.

Ballots will be sent to expatriate voters before candidate finalisation. But the voting will take place after candidates are finalised. Therefore, the parliamentary election ballots for expatriates will be printed in advance, containing only the symbols of registered political parties and independent candidates.

If expatriates are allowed to vote in the referendum, the referendum ballots would also need to be printed early. The EC is considering using two separate colours for the parliamentary ballots and referendum ballots.

EC officials say that, in effect, preparations for the referendum are progressing alongside preparations for the national election. However, holding a national election and a referendum on the same day will require certain additional measures.

For the upcoming national election, the EC has designated 42,761 polling centres and 244,649 polling booths nationwide. This time, one polling centre has been allocated for every 3,000 voters on average, and one booth each has been allocated for every 500 male voters and every 400 female voters.

EC sources say that the calculations for polling centres and booths were made solely for the parliamentary election. The number of polling booths, if not polling centres, will need to be increased to conduct a referendum and a parliamentary election on the same day, as voters will require more time to cast two ballots.

Increasing the number of centres or booths will also require an increase in polling staff. A pool or list of potential polling officials is already prepared, and expanding the number of officials will not be difficult.

Officials say after a comprehensive review the EC will decide whether to increase polling centres or only booths. Increasing polling centres would also require an increase in law enforcement personnel. In addition, conducting two votes on the same day will require extra transparent ballot boxes and other electoral materials.

During a briefing at the election commission headquarters on Tuesday, EC secretary Akhtar Ahmed told journalists that the commission has not yet received any instruction regarding the referendum. Once instructions are received, the EC will inform the media of the details and its work plan.

On the question of referendum preparations, he said that preparations are an ongoing process. He acknowledged that officials are discussing the matter internally, but did not disclose the content of those discussions.