72 Appeals to EC Against Nomination Rejection, Acceptance

Aggrieved candidates continued filing appeals with the Election Commission (EC) on the second day of the appeal process today, contesting both the approval and rejection of nomination papers for the upcoming 13th National Parliament Election.

The appeal submission began at 10:00am at the EC headquarters in Agargaon, where 10 separate booths have been arranged based on regions to facilitate the process.

EC officials said that on the first day, Monday, a total of 41 appeals were submitted—40 challenging nomination rejections and one disputing the acceptance of a nomination. By 12:45pm today, the cumulative number of appeals filed over the two days rose to 72.

On Monday, appeals were received from various regions: Khulna (3), Rajshahi (5), Rangpur (3), Chattogram (2), Cumilla (5), Dhaka (15), Mymensingh (1), Barishal (1), and Faridpur (7). Of the Cumilla submissions, one appeal challenged the acceptance of a nomination.

Earlier, on January 4—the final day of scrutiny—Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers reviewed 2,568 nomination papers across all 300 constituencies. Of these, 1,842 were accepted as valid, while 723 were rejected.

Under the EC’s guidelines on appeals, any candidate, bank, financial institution, or government service provider dissatisfied with a Returning Officer’s decision may submit an appeal to the commission within five days of scrutiny. Each appeal must be filed with one original copy and six photocopies of the necessary documents.

Candidates or their authorised representatives can submit appeals from January 5 to January 9, up to 5:00pm, at a designated centre set up in front of the EC building in Agargaon.

The EC will hear the appeals at its auditorium (Basement-2) between January 10 and January 18, with all hearings conducted by the full commission. Appeals will be reviewed according to a fixed schedule: appeals numbered 1–70 on January 10, 71–140 on January 11, 141–210 on January 12, 211–280 on January 13, 281–350 on January 14, 351–420 on January 15, 421–490 on January 16, 491–560 on January 17, and appeals numbered 561 onwards on January 18.

Following the hearings, the commission’s decisions will be displayed on digital screens, shared with Returning Officers and concerned parties via email, and published on the EC’s official website. Printed copies will also be available at EC reception desks. Rulings for appeals heard from January 10 to 12 will be released on January 12, those for January 13 to 15 on January 15, and decisions from January 16 to 18 on January 18, according to EC sources.