All voter info in one app: Polling centre, voter number, candidates' details

Mahfuz Kaiser is a young voter of Kushtia-1. He lives in Dhaka due to his job. He has set off for Kushtia to vote during his office leave. Having not been in his area for a long time, he did not know at which polling centre he would vote. Later, following the advice of an acquaintance, he downloaded an app called ‘Smart Election Management BD’ on his mobile to find out his polling centre. Through the app, he was able to access the names of polling centres, voter numbers, and all information about the candidates.

Mahfuz Kaiser told Prothom Alo, "I live in Dhaka, but I am a voter in Kushtia. I did not know where my polling centre was. By using this app, I was able to find out my polling centre. Not only me, I have found information for several of my family members and relatives."

The Bangladesh Election Commission (EC) has created the Smart Election Management BD app for voters. From finding polling centres to accessing all candidate information, everything is available through the app. As of Wednesday afternoon, the app has been downloaded more than one million times from the Google Play Store. So far, the app has a rating of 4.3 on the Play Store, and more than five thousand users have shared their opinions about it.

The app has been made available for both Android and iPhone users. Searching for ‘Smart Election Management BD’ on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store will lead to the app. Users can also download it directly from the Play Store or App Store. By registering with their National ID (NID) number and date of birth, users can access various information available from the app.

The app provides the geo-location of polling centres, which shows the route and distance to the centre via Google Maps. The app even includes photos of the centres so that voters can easily recognise them. Information about which candidates are contesting in your constituency, along with their educational qualifications, assets, or case details, is available under the candidate section of the app. Information about registered political parties and results from past elections can also be found in the app.

In addition to the Smart Election Management BD app, any voter in Bangladesh can call the 105 hotline to find out their voter number and polling centre. Voter number and polling centre information can also be obtained via SMS. For this, users need to type ‘PC NID’ in the mobile message option and send it to 105. Furthermore, voter number and polling centre information can be accessed from the Election Commission’s (EC) website.