Nationwide voting wraps up peacefully amid a festive mood.

ছবিঃ সিএনআই

News Desk: The 13th National Parliamentary Election and the much-discussed historic referendum on constitutional reform concluded nationwide in a festive and peaceful atmosphere. Voting began at 7:30 a.m. and continued uninterrupted until 4:30 p.m. Following the end of polling, vote counting is now underway across the country at individual centers.

Election Commission (EC) Secretary Akhtar Ahmed stated that voter turnout reached 47.91 percent as of 2:00 p.m. He shared this information during a media briefing on Thursday (February 12) at the Election Commission building in Agargaon.

The EC Secretary said that voters in 299 constituencies exercised their franchise spontaneously, and the overall voting process was peaceful and orderly. Although there were isolated allegations of irregularities or disturbances, law enforcement agencies responded promptly to bring the situation under control, and the Commission claimed that no major untoward incidents occurred.

This election offered voters a completely new experience. In addition to casting ballots for Members of Parliament, voters also participated in a referendum, voting “Yes” or “No” on the implementation of the “July Charter 2025,” aimed at bringing fundamental changes to the Constitution. Long queues were observed at polling centers from the morning. The presence of women and elderly voters was particularly noticeable. Although there was strong enthusiasm among young voters, middle-aged voters were more prominent during the early hours. For security reasons, strict monitoring was carried out inside and outside each polling center by joint forces comprising the army, police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and Ansar. While political activists and supporters were present at candidates’ booths, no major clashes or tensions were reported.

According to Election Commission sources, voting was held in 299 parliamentary constituencies, as the election in Sherpur-3 was postponed due to the death of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate. A total of 127,711,893 voters were eligible to cast their ballots—64,825,361 male voters and 62,885,200 female voters. A total of 50 political parties participated in the election across 42,779 polling centers. Among 2,028 candidates, 1,755 contested as party nominees, while 273 ran as independent candidates.