Bangladesh will witness a historic event on February 12 as the 13th parliamentary election and a national referendum on the July National Charter will be held on the same day. The Election Commission (EC) has clarified that every voter must receive two ballots—one for the parliamentary election and one for the referendum. Voters may choose to mark only one ballot, but both must be placed in the ballot box. Any unmarked ballot will be counted as invalid during the tally.

According to the EC, voting will take place continuously from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with the time extended by one hour due to the dual voting process. The parliamentary ballot will be black and white, while the referendum ballot will be pink. More than 42,000 polling centers across the country will conduct the voting. Both ballots will be deposited in the same transparent ballot box and later separated and counted individually in the presence of polling agents.

This marks Bangladesh’s third referendum since 1991 and the first time both a national election and referendum are being held on the same day, presenting a new experience for election officials.