Unusually high rate of voting address changes triggers suspicion

An unusually high rate of voting address change has triggered debate and suspicion among political parties and the public ahead of the 13th Parliamentary Election.
Some critics have also described that it is a special strategy adopted by a certain political party to increase their voters, and claimed that this will not fulfill their political objectives.
According to the Election Commission (EC), from January 1 to November 10 last year, a total of 701,337 voters applied to change their voting constituency, of which 665,565 applications were approved. The remaining applications are still being processed.
EC sources said that around 300,371 voters changed their voting constituency in 2024.
In the Dhaka region, 86,825 voters changed their constituencies.
In February, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus transferred his voter registration address from the Grameen Bank Complex in Mirpur to his residence in Gulshan-2. As a result of the address change, he will cast his vote in the upcoming election at the designated polling centre of Ward-19 under Dhaka North City Corporation in Gulshan.
In addition, former adviser and NCP Spokesperson Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan transferred his voter registration from Muradnagar in Cumilla to Dhanmondi in Dhaka.
While talking to the Daily Sun, BNP Vice Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu alleged that Jamaat has adopted such tactics for strategic reasons to win in some constituencies, but these moves will not bring the party any significant success.
“If they were able to win people’s hearts, they would not need to do this. They have some fixed voters in rural areas, and they brought them to Dhaka in the hope of securing a few seats. This will have no impact on politics,” he said.
Ahead of the 13th National Parliamentary Election, the EC has published voter lists three times in the same year after updating them. In the final voter list, more than 7 lakh voters applied to change their voting area. So far, NID corrections have been completed for more than 665,000 voters. Among the EC’s 10 administrative regions, 86,825 voters have shifted to Dhaka alone, according to the Election Commission’s National Identity (NID) Registration Wing.
According to the Election Commission, the deadline for voters to change their addresses ahead of the 13th National Parliamentary Election ended on 10th November.
The areas with the highest and lowest transfers
At present, the commission is providing thana-based data on voter transfers, but it may soon publish detailed constituency-wise information.
From January 1 to 10th November last year, 701,337 applications for voter transfer were submitted, of which 665,565 were approved. Among the EC’s 10 administrative regions, 86,825 voter transfers have taken place in the Dhaka region so far.
In Faridpur, 39,095 voters changed their areas; in Khulna, 81,725; in Mymensingh, 78,805; in Rangpur, 63,897; and the lowest number was in Sylhet, with 27,576 voters. In Rajshahi, 72,815 voters changed their constituencies, while 85,720 did so in Barishal. In Chattogram, 30,085 voters changed their areas, and the highest number of transfers occurred in the Cumilla region, with 105,543 voters.
From 10 August to 10 November last year, significant changes were observed in Dhaka’s voter list. During this three-month period, there was heavy pressure for voter transfers from one thana to another due to personal and housing-related reasons.
According to the latest EC data, among Dhaka’s 53 thanas, residents of Mirpur changed their voter area the most. Demra and Pallabi ranked second and third respectively.
Analysis of NID data shows that during those three months, the highest number of voter transfers occurred in Mirpur thana, with 1,627 voters. Demra ranked second with 1,444 voters, and Pallabi third with 1,235 voters. Other thanas with more than 1,000 transfers include Keraniganj (1,207 voters).
In contrast, the lowest rates of voter transfers were recorded in Airport thana (2 voters), Mugda (12 voters), and Kalabagan (15 voters).
The top 10 thanas with the highest number of voter transfers are Mirpur (1,627), Demra (1,444), Pallabi (1,235), Keraniganj (1,207), Badda (851), Kafrul (811), Savar (771), Khilgaon (742), Jatrabari (717), and Paltan (638).
A review of the voter lists of the 12th and 13th parliamentary elections shows that new voter transfer rates are higher in certain constituencies. Longtime local voters in different areas of the capital also say that the movement of unfamiliar people has increased in their neighborhoods ahead of the election.
In 2024, a total of 370,917 voters changed their voting areas, which is about half of the transfer number in 2025. In 2023, the number was 461,559.
According to the latest voter update, the total number of voters in the country stands at 127,695,183. Of them, 64,814,907 are male voters, 62,879,042 are female voters, and 1,234 are third-gender voters.

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