Counting of votes begins as voting ends peacefully in Bangladesh

The counting of votes has begun following the peaceful conclusion of voting in the 13th National Parliamentary Election and the referendum, which ended at 4:30pm on Thursday across Bangladesh.

Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said that as of 2pm, nearly 48 per cent of registered voters had cast their ballots nationwide.

Polling began at 7:30am in 42,779 centres across 299 constituencies, with 12,77,11,793 voters registered, including 6,48,25,361 males, 6,28,85,200 females and 1,232 from the third gender.

Top political leaders exercised their voting rights early in the day. BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman cast his ballot at the Gulshan Model High School and College centre, while Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman voted at Monipur High School and College in Dhaka.

A tight security arrangement was enforced nationwide, with nearly 9 lakh law enforcement personnel deployed to maintain order. In addition, 2,098 executive and 657 judicial magistrates were appointed for election duties, which began on Tuesday and will continue for five days.

The polls, which mark the expected end of the 18-month interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus, saw 50 political parties fielding 2,028 candidates, including 273 independents. BNP fielded the largest number of candidates at 291, while 83 women contested the election.

Approximately 8 lakh election officials oversaw the process, including 69 returning officers, 598 assistant returning officers, 42,779 presiding officers, 2,47,482 assistant presiding officers, and 4,95,964 polling officers. Around 15,000 officials managed postal voting.

The security deployment included 1,03,000 army troops, 8,500 navy personnel, 37,453 paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh soldiers, 3,585 Coast Guard members, 1,87,603 policemen, 9,349 RAB personnel and 5,67,868 Ansar members.

Election monitoring involved 55,454 observers from 81 local organisations and 394 international monitors, including 80 from international organisations and independent European observers. Nearly 200 foreign journalists covered the election and referendum.