Voting for the upcoming Presidential election will take place at the Session Hall of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on August 20, Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said on Tuesday.

Briefing reporters at the EC headquarters in Agargaon following a preparatory session with the Parliament Speaker, Akhtar Ahmed said “Voting will continue uninterrupted from 2 pm to 5 pm on August 20 . . . The extended voting period has been set to allow for any possible delay in the arrival of a member of parliament.”

Under the established ground rules, lawmakers will remain seated at their assigned places inside the Session Hall as EC-appointed election personnel deliver ballot papers directly to them.

Explaining the structural design of the official ballot, Akhtar Ahmed noted, “Each ballot paper will have two parts - a stump and the main ballot. The counterfoil will contain the candidate’s serial number, the voter’s name, division number and a space for signature.”

The right section of the main ballot will feature the names of all contesting candidates.

To cast a vote, the participating MP will write out the complete name of their chosen candidate in the designated area adjacent to the printed name and append their signature.

Three transparent voting urns will be stationed within the Session Hall, allowing lawmakers the option to drop their completed ballots into any one of the containers.

Tabulation will commence immediately inside the Session Hall as soon as polling concludes at 5 pm.

An initial counting panel consisting of four or five personnel will manage the sorting and tallying of the ballots.

Out of the 349 total votes, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin—serving as the official Election Officer—will formally declare the tally of valid and invalid ballots along with the final vote counts for each candidate.

The official election result will subsequently be published in an extraordinary gazette notification by the EC Secretariat.

Akhtar Ahmed added that the Election Commission will issue specialized security identity credentials to 20 officials designated to supervise the polling process.

Furthermore, the entire voting proceeding will be broadcast live from the Session Hall, with a designated section reserved inside the chamber to accommodate attending journalists.