Polling officers' training to begin on Jan 22

Published : Monday, 19 January, 2026 at 11:03 AM Count : 802

Training for presiding officers, assistant presiding officers and polling officers will begin across the country on January 22.

The programme would cover electoral laws, rules and overall poll management for more than 800,000 personnel and will continue until February 7, said the Election Training Institute (ETI) Director General Muhammad Hasanuzzaman.

Election Commission officials said each centre requires one presiding officer, one assistant presiding officer per booth and two polling officers per booth, bringing the total to about eight to 10 polling officials per centre.

Additional personnel are also kept on standby. Overall, more than 800,000 polling officials are required.

Polling for the general election and referendum will be held on February 12 from 7:30AM to 4:30PM without a break.

The training will cover how the same officials will conduct and manage two separate ballots on the same day.

A total of 69 returning officers, 499 assistant returning officers, more than 1,000 executive magistrates and over 300 judicial magistrates will be deployed.

Polling officers, however, are trained at the local level.