Although the 12th National Assembly elections were held on ballot paper, the Election Commission (EC) is preparing to make maximum use of technology in the election process.

In this case, the opportunity to submit nomination papers online is being provided to control the muscle power and to prevent the candidates from obstructing the submission of nomination papers. Along with this, there will be an opportunity to pay the security deposit online through e-banking.

EC officials said developing this new app may cost more than Tk 5 crore. Voters, political parties, candidates, returning officers, ECs and secretaries can also access this app.

The Commission is proceeding with the plan to hold the 12th parliament election between the last week of December this year or the first week of January 2024. In this case, the election schedule may be announced in early or mid-November. Preparation work is going on as per the roadmap to vote in 300 seats on the ballot paper.

The registration process for new political parties has already been completed. The process of finalizing the list of election observers is going on. Ahead of the election, field administration officials are being arranged all over the country. On July 30, the EC directed officials across the country to determine polling stations and polling booths. EC officials and Polling Station Selection Committee members are visiting prospective centres.

Talking to Bangladesh Pratidin, Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Md Ahsan Habib Khan said, the EC is going to decide to make the maximum use of technology in the upcoming National Parliament elections to reduce the benefits of the candidates and the suffering of the voters even in the ballot paper. In this case, all kinds of preparations for technology-based elections are underway.

Contesting candidates in this election will be given the opportunity to submit nomination papers online, which has already been piloted in a few elections. Apart from this, the EC is developing an app called 'Bangladesh Election App'. With this app, voters can easily see candidate's name, identity, photo, party identity, symbol and candidate's affidavit information. Also you can see polling station and voter number, photo of polling station. After polling, one can also check seat/centre wise result, party wise number of seats won and identity of nearest candidate and number of votes received, he said.

“We are known all over the world as Digital Bangladesh. Now everything from school-college applications are being submitted online. Online submissions demonstrate transparency and accuracy.”

He said, the candidates violated the election code of conduct on the first day while filing nominations by showing slogans and showdowns with motor vehicles and processions. There are complaints that some of those who go to submit their nominations are also obstructed. Forced to withdraw after submission again. As a result, the nomination paper of a single candidate exists everywhere.

Online Nomination Form Submission Process: Candidates interested in participating in the election can submit the complete nomination form online from any place. Candidates can pay the security deposit online for filing nomination papers. In this case the candidate has to register by entering the 'Online Nomination Form' link on the EC website with the National Identity Card number, name, date of birth, mobile number and e-mail number. After the registration is completed, the user ID and password will be transferred to the mobile number registered. Later login page with user id and password. Candidate nomination, personal information, affidavit and various documents have to be attached periodically from the left side menu of the candidate dashboard. If the nomination papers are submitted correctly, the EC will confirm through a message on the mobile phone. However, in the case of online filing of nomination papers, the face of the candidate, proposer and supporter will be identified through Face Recognition System (FRO).

What the app will contain: Constituency name and number; Candidate's name, identity, photograph, party identity, symbol and candidate's affidavit information; Polling station information (station name, station photo, display on Google map); Precinct and voter information (so voters can see which precinct to vote in); Voter and Constituency wise total number of voters; At the end of the election, seat/centre-wise candidates who have got less votes will be shown in numbers and charts; The number of seats won by the party and the identity of the nearest candidate and the number of votes received can also be seen in the app. Everyone including voters, political parties, candidates, returning officers, secretaries, commissions will have access to this app. Constitutionally, the EC has to hold elections within 90 days before January 29, 2024. In that case, the countdown to the 12th Parliament election will begin on November 1.

According to the election officials, the EC announces the schedule 40-45 days before the polling date. In this case, time is kept for campaigning after submission of nomination papers, selection, withdrawal and allotment of symbols. A maximum of three weeks for campaigning, 10-15 days for submission of nomination papers, 4 days for selection, 4-7 days for disposal of appeals, 7 days for withdrawal are also given. The Election Commission held a meeting and finalized the schedule after reviewing the overall issues.

After the announcement of the last 11 parliament schedule, there is a precedent of announcing the schedule keeping a minimum of 42 days and a maximum of 78 days from the submission of nomination papers to the date of polling. All the last 9th, 10th and 11th parliamentary election schedules were announced on 2 November 2008, 25 November 2013 and 8 November 2018.

If the election is scheduled in the last week of December or the first week of January, the polling schedule may be announced from the beginning of November to the second half. There is a matter of meeting with the President as per custom after the start of the counting of the election, besides completing all the preparations for the vote, the inter-ministerial meeting and informing about all the final preparations. After that, the commission sat and finalized the polling date. EC officials say that with the new voters, the electorate during the twelfth parliamentary elections will be more than 119.1 million. About 45,000 polling stations, 10-12 lakh people will be engaged in various duties in the election of so many voters, law enforcement and polling officers. Money will be spent on 60-70 department of election management including ballot paper, ballot box, election material, training, transportation, fuel.

Apart from this, as the cost of necessary equipment and remuneration increases, the election expenses increase accordingly every time. As many election officials are needed for polling, law enforcement officers are also needed. A large part of the expenditure of conducting the entire election goes to the law and order sector.

The concerned officials of the EC say that the allocation of the EC for the current financial year is Tk 2, 406 crores and 49 lakhs. In the allocation, Tk 2, 124 crore 4 lakh taka has been kept in the management sector and Tk 282 crore 45 lakh taka in the development sector.

@The report was published in Bengali on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on August 13 and rewritten in English by Tanvir Raihan.