Voters stand within the queue at a polling station on the day of the thirteenth basic election in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on February 12, 2026.
| Photograph Credit score: Reuters
Voting started on Thursday (February 12, 2026) morning in Bangladesh’s essential basic election — the primary for the reason that ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in large nationwide protests in August 2024.
Bangladesh polls LIVE updates
The voting began in 299 out of 300 parliamentary constituencies throughout the nation from 7:30 a.m. (native time) and can proceed till 4:30 p.m. The counting of votes is anticipated to start shortly after the voting concludes.
Voting in a single constituency has been cancelled as a result of dying of a candidate.
The thirteenth parliamentary elections are being held concurrently together with a referendum on a posh 84-point reform package deal.
The Election Fee (EC) has made elaborate safety preparations, deploying almost 1 million safety personnel — the largest-ever within the nation’s electoral historical past.
The competition is principally between the Bangladesh Nationalist Occasion (BNP) and its as soon as ally Jamaat-e-Islami, within the absence of Hasina’s now-disbanded Awami League. Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’ interim authorities final 12 months disbanded the Awami League and barred it from contesting the polls.
A complete of 1,755 candidates from 50 political events and 273 independents are contesting the election. The BNP has fielded the best variety of 291 candidates. There are 83 feminine candidates.
Mr. Yunus, who has promised to rapidly switch energy to the elected authorities, has urged the political events, candidates and different involved events to take care of restraint, tolerance and democratic behaviour on the polling day.
In a televised tackle to the nation on the eve of the polling, Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin known as upon the voters to solid their votes freely. He urged political events, candidates, and voters to take care of a peaceable and cordial setting.
He mentioned that representatives from 45 nations and organisations, together with election administration our bodies and worldwide establishments, are observing the polls.
Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Machud mentioned almost 9,00,000 legislation enforcement personnel have been deployed to make sure safety in the course of the election, state-run BSS information company reported.
Authorities have deployed Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and Fast Motion Groups (RATs) throughout key areas of the capital.
Police mentioned they’ve offered a listing of risk-prone polling centres to the EC, which confirmed that out of two,131 polling centres in Dhaka, 1,614 had been risk-prone. Nonetheless, the military mentioned they’ve recognized two centres in Dhaka metropolis to be “dangerous”.
For the primary time, drones and body-worn cameras are getting used for election safety.
EC knowledge confirmed that first-time voters made up some 3.58% of the almost 127 million voters.
For the primary time, almost 8,00,000 expatriate Bangladeshis, who’ve registered with the ballot physique, will have the ability to vote by means of an IT-based postal poll system.
Printed – February 12, 2026 07:35 am IST