Ballot papers will be printed from midnight: Press Secy

The government appointed press will start printing ballot papers from midnight ahead of the 12 February general elections, said the Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam on Wednesday.

The elections will be held in all the 300 constituencies as issues over the Pabna-1 and 2 constituencies have been resolved, Shafiqul said at a press briefing held at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital.

Vote counting could take some additional time in this election as a number of new processes have been included like a referendum and postal ballots, the press secretary added.

Furthermore, the elections officials will take the utmost caution to ensure the counting is accurate and objective, likely causing delays, Shafiqul said.

Earlier in the day, the issue of extra time in vote counting was raised at a meeting on poll-time security measures chaired by Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, Shafiqul noted.

The potential delay has been floated early to avoid suspicions of irregularities, he said.

Policemen will use 25,500 bodycams to objectively detect and respond to security issues during the election on 12 February. Footage from the cameras will be uploaded to the Surokkha mobile app in real-time, allowing for prompt response to emergency situations, Shafiqul told reporters.