EC collecting names of executive magistrates’ controversial polls under Awami League

The Election Commission is gathering information on those who served as executive magistrates during the past three parliamentary elections held under the Awami League government, which have been widely questioned for their credibility.

The initiative comes in response to a request from the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), which is currently investigating a case filed by the BNP accusing the commission of conducting these elections without the “mandate of the people”.

In this context, the EC Secretariat has begun collecting data on the magistrates involved in the 2014, 2018, and 2024 elections.

On Wednesday, EC Deputy Secretary Monir Hossain sent letters to all deputy commissioners nationwide, as well as the divisional commissioners of Dhaka and Chattogram, asking for the required information.

For each national election, more than 1,500 executive magistrates are typically deployed across the 300 constituencies to enforce the electoral code of conduct and maintain law and order. Judicial magistrates are also engaged per the commission’s requirement.

The letter instructed authorities to send in detailed information -- names, addresses, national ID, passport and mobile numbers -- of the magistrates who served during the 10th, 11th, and 12th national elections.

The PBI has asked the EC to provide this data by Jul 24.