Today is 12 February 2026; a memorable day in the history of Bangladesh. After a long 18-month interim rule, the thirteenth parliamentary election and the much-discussed national referendum are being held today. This is the first general election after the country’s political transformation, where great enthusiasm is being observed among the voters.
Voting will begin simultaneously in 299 parliamentary constituencies across the country from 7:30 am today. This is the country’s first election after the popular uprising of 5 August 2024, which is being conducted under the interim government led by Dr. Muhammad Yunus.
Voting is being held in 299 out of 300 constituencies (voting was suspended in Sherpur-3 constituency due to the death of a candidate). The total number of voters in this year’s parliamentary election is about 127.7 million. 51 registered political parties are participating in this election. In the absence of the Awami League, the main fight this time is between the candidates of the BNP, the Jamaat-e-Islami National Citizens’ Party (NCP) alliance and the Islami Andolan Bangladesh.
In this election, voters are being given two ballot papers. White ballot: for the election of members of parliament. Pink ballot: ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ vote on the question of constitution and institutional reforms (national referendum).
The Election Commission (EC) said that strict security measures have been taken across the country to ensure fair voting. About 9,58,000 security force members (police, army, RAB and BGB) have been deployed across the country. Along with the police, RAB and BGB, the army is deployed as a striking force. More than 5,00,000 Ansar members and thousands of executive and judicial magistrates are on duty. More than half of the country’s polling stations have been marked as ‘risky’ and special surveillance is being maintained there. However, no major clashes have been reported so far. However, tensions are prevailing in some isolated places. The Election Commission said that the law and order situation is stable than ever.
In addition to domestic observers, about 500 foreign observers are monitoring this election. The Election Commissioner said that for the first time, sophisticated technology and postal ballots have been combined in many centers to ensure transparency.
The counting will begin this afternoon after the voting ends. However, since the ballots for the parliamentary elections and the referendum have to be counted simultaneously, we may have to wait until tomorrow (February 13) morning to get the complete results.