EC flags over 270 Ctg polling centres as unfit, urges urgent repairs

Highlights:

• Centres mostly in schools, colleges, madrasas
• Have broken doors, faulty electricity, poor sanitation
• 58 Banshkhali centres need urgent repairs
• Mirsarai, Sitakunda centres face lighting, sanitation issues
• EC submits repair recommendations to central office

As discussions intensify over the 2026 national election in Bangladesh, the Election Commission (EC) has raised concerns about polling infrastructure in Chattogram, identifying more than 270 out of 2,022 polling centres in the district as structurally unfit for use and in need of quick repairs.

The EC warned that the poor condition of these centres – mostly schools, colleges, and madrasas – could obstruct voter access and compromise the fairness and safety of the upcoming polls. Common problems include broken doors and windows, faulty or absent electricity and water systems, poor sanitation, and tin-roof structures vulnerable to extreme weather.

According to a recent EC inspection, 58 centres in Banshkhali upazila alone were deemed unfit. Mirsarai followed with 61 centres, and Sitakunda with 40. Other affected upazilas include Lohagara (18), Fatikchhari, Rangunia, Boalkhali, and Patiya (11 each), Hathazari (3), Karnaphuli (2), Chandanaish (6), Raozan (3), and Satkania (1).

In Chattogram city, 22 centres in Panchlaish were flagged, along with several in Kotwali, Double Mooring, Chandgaon, and Bandar police station areas. The city centres suffer from inadequate lighting, broken sanitation systems, and deteriorating infrastructure.

One striking example of the infrastructural crisis is the Dakshin Premashia Mohammadia Sunnia Madrasa in Banshkhali upazila. After the original building was washed away by coastal erosion in 2012, a tin-and-wood Hafezkhana has been used as a makeshift polling centre for Ward 3.

"During elections, men and women vote in cramped tin-shed rooms with no boundary wall and barely any access road," said a local madrasa teacher, adding that the temporary structure has never been upgraded to meet basic safety or accessibility standards.

Md Bashir Ahmed, Chattogram's senior district election officer, confirmed the findings. "These over 270 centres are not suitable for conducting fair and secure voting. We've submitted detailed recommendations to the central EC office," he said.

EC urges urgent action

The EC has already reached out to the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Local Government, Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), and the Education Engineering Department, urging them to undertake necessary repairs and upgrades well ahead of the 2026 election.

Insiders said without immediate and coordinated action, the condition of polling centres in Chattogram could jeopardise not just the region's election logistics, but also the integrity and inclusiveness of the democratic process across the country.