The government has amended the law to empower the Election Commission (EC) to publish and revise the voter list at any time of the year before the announcement of the election schedule.
After completing all formalities, the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs on Thursday issued the “Voter List (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025.”
Until now, the rule was to publish the draft voter list on January 2 every year and then the final list on March
Amendment Gives EC Power to Publish Voter List Anytime of the Year
Ahead of the 13th National Parliament election, the commission led by A.M.M. Nasir Uddin started updating the voter list door-to-door from January 20 this year. By June, data of an additional 4.45 million eligible voters were registered.
However, the publication of this updated list became problematic because, under existing rules, it could not be officially released before March 2 of the following year. Meanwhile, the Commission is preparing for elections scheduled in February, as announced by the government.
In this context, the government took steps to amend the law to allow the Election Commission (EC) to publish the voter list at any time of the year. On July 17, the Advisory Council approved the draft of the amended Voter List Act in the form of an ordinance. The amendment included a provision allowing publication of the voter list before the announcement of the election schedule.
Now, with the ordinance officially issued, the EC can publish the updated list at any time of the year before the election schedule is announced, including newly registered voters.
What the Amendment Says
The ordinance, which amends Section 3 of the Voter List Act, 2009 (Act No. 6 of 2009), states:
In clause (j) of Section 3, after the words “first day of January,” the words “or any other date declared by the Commission” shall be inserted.
Additionally, Section 11 of the same Act has been amended to include a new sub-section (1), which states:
“(1) The existing voter list stored in the computer database shall be updated every year from January 2 to March 2, or within the timeframe declared under clause (j) of Section 3 before the announcement of the election schedule, in a prescribed manner. This includes:
(a) Registering those who have turned 18 but are not yet registered as voters;
(b) Removing names of deceased or disqualified voters;
(c) Updating voter lists for those who have changed their residence by removing their names from the old list and adding them to the new one.
Provided that failure to update the list within the specified period will not invalidate or disrupt the continuity of the voter list.”
Previously, clause (j) of Section 3 of the 2009 Act defined the “date of eligibility” as January 1 of that year for the preparation, correction, or updating of the voter list. According to this rule, anyone turning 18 after January 1 had to wait until the next year to become a voter.