Voters can take mobile phones to polling centresReport voter turnout in every 2 hours: EC

The Election Commission (EC) has instructed that the number of votes cast in the upcoming 13th parliamentary election and the referendum on the July National Charter be reported to returning officers every two hours.

On Monday, EC Senior Assistant Secretary Md Shahidul Islam issued the directive.

According to the instructions, vote counts must be submitted on a polling-station basis every two hours. Data entry operators appointed by assistant returning officers in each constituency will log in to the Election Management System (EMS) and enter the number of votes cast at each polling station.

After submission, the assistant returning officer will verify and approve the data. Once approved, the information can be viewed on the ‘Kopot Dashboard’ by the returning officer and the Election Commission accounts.

Voters can take mobile phones to polling centres

Voters and election candidates can take mobile phones to polling centres and even take pictures at the centres during the national elections on Thursday, the Election Commission (EC) secretary has said.

The EC is amending the previous ban on carrying phones inside and around the centres, keeping restriction on taking pictures only inside the polling booths, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed told reporters at the EC head office on Monday.

Inside a polling centre, the polling booth is the secret room where people cast their votes.

On Sunday, an EC notification banned general people, including journalists and election observers, from carrying mobile phones within 400 yards of a polling centre on the election day.

The notification only allowed the concerned presiding officer, the police in-charge appointed at the centre, on-duty Ansar members, and two Ansar members, who use the official election security smartphone app, to use mobile phones inside the polling centres on 12 February.

The national election and the referendum will be held simultaneously on 12 February.