The Election Commission (EC) of Bangladesh announced that postal ballot counting for the upcoming national election will begin across the country at 4:30 p.m. on February 12. Each constituency’s returning officer will designate the counting location, and 300 presiding officers have been appointed to oversee the process. Political parties may have one polling agent present during counting, which will be conducted under strict adherence to EC regulations to ensure transparency and credibility.

According to EC officials, the process is designed to fully protect voter confidentiality. Declaration forms and ballots will be separated before counting, and once verified, valid ballots will be counted without any possibility of linking them to individual voters. Security forces will be present, and all counting will occur in front of polling agents. Postal ballots for the parliamentary election and referendum will be counted separately, with results later combined with general votes.

The EC noted that postal ballot counting may take longer than regular ballots due to multiple verification steps. Ballot boxes were sealed earlier in the presence of polling agents, and lock details were publicly posted to maintain transparency.