ছবি: ফাইল ছবি
Ahead of the upcoming referendum and national parliamentary elections, the Election Commission has issued a set of comprehensive directives covering the appointment of polling officials, the use of voter awareness banners at polling centers, and identification measures for candidates with identical names, stating clearly that while officials may be recruited from neighboring upazilas in cases of manpower shortages, an entire constituency’s presiding officers cannot be transferred en masse to another constituency as it may disrupt balance and neutrality in the voting process; the commission has also instructed that environmentally friendly awareness banners must be displayed at all polling centers, produced under specified standards using fabric composed of 80 percent natural cotton and 20 percent viscose, with fixed dimensions, reactive digital printing, and a capped price including taxes to ensure cost control and environmental protection; additionally, to avoid voter confusion where multiple candidates share the same name within a constituency, the commission has decided that ballot papers and candidate lists will include the name of the candidate’s father, mother, or spouse, with symbols arranged in a defined order where necessary; furthermore, to prevent electoral influence while maintaining public interest services, the commission has decided that the Vulnerable Women Benefit and Mother and Child Assistance programs will remain operational during the election period under the direct supervision of district administrations rather than local representatives, a move aimed at ensuring transparency, neutrality, and continuity of essential social protection programs, reflecting the commission’s broader effort to conduct a free, fair, and credible election process.
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