EC starts hearing appeals as 645 petitions lodged

A total of 645 appeals challenging returning officers’ decisions on candidates’ nomination papers for the 13th National Parliamentary election, were submitted to the Election Commission (EC) as of yesterday.

The EC began hearing the appeals this morning at the auditorium of Nirbachan Bhaban in Agargaon, Dhaka.

Hearings will continue daily from 10:00am to 5:00pm until January 18, according to the commission.

In a press release issued yesterday, the EC said it would hear appeals numbered 1 to 70 today, 71 to 140 tomorrow, 141 to 210 on Monday, and 211 to 280 on Tuesday.

The schedule for the remaining appeals will be announced later.

Earlier, on December 4, returning officers had rejected the nomination papers of 723 candidates nationwide following scrutiny.

Meanwhile, the EC has organised a mock exercise on the counting of postal ballots for the upcoming election and the referendum scheduled for February 12.

The exercise is being conducted on the third floor of the lift building of the Election Training Institute, where EC officials are demonstrating procedures for counting postal ballots once they are received by presiding officers.