EC strips DCs, SPs of authority to set up polling centres for national election

The Election Commission (EC) has withdrawn the authority of deputy commissioners (DCs) and superintendents of police (SPs) in setting up polling centres for the upcoming national parliamentary election, assigning the responsibility solely to its own officials instead.

The decision was announced in a gazette notification issued yesterday (30 June) through the introduction of the "Polling Centre Establishment and Management Policy 2025".

The newly revised policy removes the provision for committees comprising local administration and police officials at the metropolitan, district, upazila, and thana levels that were previously responsible for selecting polling centres.

The EC has also removed the requirement for assigning separate rooms for Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

While the responsibility for establishing polling centres has always been under the EC's jurisdiction, the 2023 guidelines introduced under Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal allowed DCs and SPs to be part of committees overseeing this task. That move had sparked widespread criticism and discontent among EC officials.

Under the former policy, a five-member upazila committee led by the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) would prepare a draft list of polling centres. A seven-member district-level committee headed by the DC would then review the list. These committees could inspect polling centres and send their recommendations along with the draft list to the EC via district election officers.

However, EC officials say the new policy under the current commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, has reversed this, restoring full authority to field-level EC officers.

The change was finalised during the commission's fifth meeting held on 21 May.

Following the meeting, Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah told reporters, "The previous committee for setting up polling centres has been abolished. Additionally, we have removed the issue of EVMs from the policy."

As per the new rules, one polling centre will be established for every 3,000 voters on average, with one room allocated for every 500 male voters and one for every 400 female voters, as in previous elections.

During the 12th National Parliamentary Election in 2024, over 42,000 polling centres were set up. With the number of registered voters nearing 13 crore this year, the number of polling centres is expected to increase.