EC confirms Fakhrul-Oli contest for Aug 20 presidential election

BNP’s Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and LDP’s Oli Ahmed will contest the presidential election on August 20 as no candidate has withdrawn their nomination paper, Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said today.

The election will be held at the parliament from 2:00pm to 5:00pm, he said while briefing reporters this afternoon at the commission’s headquarters in Agargaon, Dhaka.

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Ballot papers for the presidential election will be printed in black and white and will have two parts: a counterfoil and a voting portion. The left part will contain the serial number, voter’s name, division number and a blank space for a signature.

The names of the candidates will be printed alphabetically on the right part of the ballot paper, he added.

Regarding the polling process, Akhtar said Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, who is also the returning officer for the presidential election, will welcome the 349 lawmakers. Voting will begin after the CEC informs them about the polling process.

The EC secretary said the ballot papers have already been prepared and will be carried to the polling venue by commission officials who will assist with the election process, including himself, on polling day.

The ballots will be counted after 5:00pm, he said. The candidate securing the highest number of valid votes will be declared the preliminary winner by the returning officer at parliament.

The gazette will be published later, Akhtar said.