Govt okays ordinance allowing voter registration until election schedule announcement
As per the existing law, young people who become eligible to vote after 2 January are deprived of their voting rights if the elections are held in the following months, even till March of the next year.
The interim government today (17 July) approved the drafts of three ordinances, including the Electoral Rolls (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, which will allow eligible people to get registered as voters until an election schedule is announced.
As per the existing law, young people who become eligible to vote after 2 January of a year are deprived of their voting rights if the elections are held in the following months of the year.
The approval came at a meeting of the Council of Advisers, held at the Chief Adviser's Office, with Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus in the chair.
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"The meeting gave the final approval to the draft of the Electoral Rolls (Amendment) Ordinance 2025," said CA's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam while briefing reporters at the Foreign Service Academy.
Jasmine Tuly, former additional secretary of the Election Commission, told TBS, "If this can be handled well, meaning if data is collected and entered in advance, then many young voters will be able to cast their votes. For this, data must be collected beforehand, and the voter list must be prepared on time accordingly."
Highlighting the change in the existing system, she explained, "Normally, only those who turn 18 by 1 January of the year in which the national election is held are eligible to be included in the voter list. In the past, the state of information technology was limited; everything was manual. Back then, voter lists had to be printed and distributed physically. But now, the entire system is much more automated and computer-based."
Tuly continued, "If necessary information, including biometrics, is collected in advance and stored, then inclusion in the voter list is a very easy task. This will significantly increase the rate of young people being included as voters and exercising their right to vote."
The press secretary also said the Council of Advisers approved two other draft ordinances, which are now subject to legal vetting.
These are the "Human Organ Transplantation Ordinance 2025" and the "Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Amendment) Ordinance 2025," he added.
