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The Election Commission (EC) has estimated the overall expenditures for the upcoming referendum and the 13th national parliamentary election at some Tk 31 billion.
The Commission on Wednesday approved the budget, estimating the total cost of Tk 31 billion to conduct the referendum and general election simultaneously on February 12 next, said EC officials.
Of the total cost, Tk 12 billion has been earmarked for election management and operational expenses, while Tk 14 billion has been allocated for deployment of law enforcement agencies.
Another Tk 5 billion has been set aside for costs related to the referendum, postal ballots and other ancillary purposes.
Officials, however, said the allocation might be increased, if necessary.
In 2024, the expenditure for the 12th national election stood at Tk 22.76 billion.
About the increased cost, EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said the rise in expenditure is natural as this time the referendum along with the national election and also the postal balloting system alongside the manual (traditional) balloting system were behind the rise in the cost.
“The expenses are expected to be higher than before as we are arranging voting for the general election and also the referendum and using the postal ballots alongside the manual ballots,” he said.
On December 11, the Election Commission announced the schedule to hold the 13th parliamentary election and the referendum on the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order simultaneously on February 12 next.
The EC, headed by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, introduced the IT-supported hybrid postal balloting system with the combination of digital registration and manual balloting for the first time in the country for the expatriate Bangladeshis living in more than 120 foreign countries.
The Commission also is using the new postal balloting system for the government employees working outside their respective constituencies, the polling personnel and the people under legal custody inside Bangladesh.