Nomination submission deadline ends for Bangladesh elections

The deadline for submitting nomination papers for Bangladesh’s upcoming national election expired at 5:00 pm on Monday, with the majority of candidates completing the process within the stipulated time.

Most aspirants filed their nomination papers on Monday, as only 166 nominations had been submitted until Sunday for the 13th parliamentary election scheduled for February 12, 2026.

The Election Commission (EC) said the final number of candidates contesting from the country’s 300 constituencies will be announced after data compilation from the 69 returning officers involved in the election process.

According to the EC’s Central Coordination Committee, a total of 3,144 nomination papers were collected across the 300 constituencies up to Sunday, following the announcement of the election schedule on December 11.

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin unveiled the schedule on December 11, confirming that the 13th parliamentary election and the referendum on the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order will be held simultaneously on February 12.

Under the election timetable, nomination papers were due by December 29, scrutiny will take place from December 30 to January 4, and the deadline for withdrawal of candidature is January 20.

The election campaign will begin on January 22 and run until 48 hours before polling starts at 7:30 am on February 10.

For this election, the Commission has appointed 69 returning officers, including two divisional commissioners from Dhaka and Chattogram, three regional election officers from Dhaka, Chattogram and Khulna, and 64 district deputy commissioners.

The process of collecting and submitting nomination papers began on December 12, a day after the election schedule was announced.