Second phase of municipality polls on 26 January

Sixty-one municipalities will go to polls on 26 January 2021 in the second phase of the upcoming four-phase municipality elections across the country.

Of these, voters of 29 municipalities will cast their votes through eclectic voting machines (EVM) while 32 other municipalities will use ballot papers, according to the polls schedule declared by the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday, reports Somoy TV.

Election Commission (EC) Secretariat Md Alamgir said the last date of nomination paper submission is 20 December.  The date for nomination paper scrutiny is scheduled on 22 December and the last day of nomination paper withdrawal is 29 December.   

Besides, the Chattogram City Corporation election may be held by the end of December this year, the EC secretary added.

The commission wants to hold the municipality elections in four phases due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.  Earlier, the schedule for the first phase of the election was declared. In the first phase, elections to 25 municipalities will be held on 28 December. The voting will be conducted through EVMs.

There are 329 municipalities in the country. According to electoral law, elections to the municipalities must be held within 90 days before the term of the municipality expires.

After the amendment to the local government law, party symbols were used in municipality polls for the first time in 2015, in which 20 political parties took part in that election.

The previous municipality election schedule was announced on 24 November. The polling date was scheduled on 30 December that year with a time limit of 36 days.

Voting in 234 municipalities took place on that day, while the rest of the municipalities went to polls later considering the date of expiration and various other complications.