The Election Commission has announced the schedule for the second phase of the Upazila Council elections which will be held on March 18.
Election Commission Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed announced the schedule on Thursday (Feb 7).
He said that the aspirants of the second phase will be able to file their nomination till Feb 18, while the scrutiny will take place on Feb 20. The last day to drop out of the polls is Feb 27.
The voting in the second phase will take place in 129 Upazilas in 129 districts of five divisions.
Responding to queries about the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), he said, “The policy draft for the use of EVMs has been sent to the law ministry.”
He added that the commission will finalise whether to use EVMs after the vetting process but they definitely won’t be used for the first phase of the upazila polls which is scheduled for Mar 10.
For the very first time, Upazila elections will take place on party lines where the candidates will contest with a political party’s registered symbol.
The Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed-led Commission administered the last Upazila elections in six phases between February and May in 2014 after the 10th national election on Jan 5 that year.