Voter tally rises to 126m

News Desk :

After a nationwide door-to-door update, the Election Commission put the total number of voters at 126.3 million.

Its Secretary Akhtar Ahmed announced the figures on Sunday while releasing the supplementary voter list.

He said that the draft list of new voters had included 4.57 million names of women, men and transgender people.

An additional 0.138 million people have since been added, bringing the total increase to 4.709 million voters.

The commission had published the draft list on Aug 10, reports bdnews24.com After resolving claims and objections, the final version was released on Aug 31.

According to the updated list, the number of male voters stands at 64.1 million, female voters at 62.2 million and transgender voters at 1,230.

The EC confirmed that the polls will be held in the first half of February, before Ramadan. Those turning 18 by Oct 31 will be added to the
register, with the final list for the polls set for Nov 30.

On Mar 2, 2025, Bangladesh had 123.7 million registered voters, with men outnumbering women by nearly 3 million. Since then, the gap has shrunk by more than 1 million.

Despite female voter numbers rising faster in the latest update, Election Commissioner Abul Fazl Md Sanauallah urged greater cooperation from women’s organisations to tackle social barriers and reluctance among women.

Speaking at an earlier event on Aug 10, he noted that women have consistently been underrepresented in the voter roll, although awareness campaigns have helped reduce the gap this time.

“Many women still remain outside the list,” Sanauallah said.
“In some areas, young women do not want to register before marriage, preferring to enrol later at their husband’s address. Some do not even wish to show their face for photographs, refusing to be listed as voters.”