Voting has begun in Cox’s Bazar, the country’s only seaside city, on Thursday, January 12, starting at 7:30 a.m. The district returning officer and deputy commissioner Md. A. Mannan confirmed that polling is taking place simultaneously in 598 centers across nine upazilas, with 1,849,357 registered voters expected to cast their ballots. A member of BNP’s National Standing Committee voted at the GMC Institute in Pekua.

According to official sources, voting is being conducted in 3,689 rooms with 12,251 polling officials on duty. The district administration has deployed extensive security measures due to the district’s sensitive nature, which includes border and coastal areas as well as Rohingya camps. A total of 13,499 law enforcement personnel are on duty, including members of the army, BGB, navy, air force, coast guard, RAB, Ansar battalion, and police. Additionally, 7,774 Ansar and VDP members are stationed at polling centers, with 13 assigned per center.

Officials reported that 34 executive magistrates and 9 judicial magistrates are overseeing the process, while 4,503 presiding and assistant presiding officers and 7,748 polling officers are managing the voting operations.