Polling ends in Bangladesh for parliamentary election and referendum for constitutional changes

Polling for Bangladesh's parliamentary election and constitutional referendum concluded, with early results expected by February 13, 2026.

Bangladesh completed polling for the general election and referendum for constitutional changes on Thursday (February 12, 2026). Polling started in 36,031 election centres at 7.30 a.m. and ended at 4:30 p.m. with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) accusing Jamaat-e-Islami, leader of an 11-party alliance, of intimidating voters in various locations. In total, 2,028 candidates are in the fray for the election that will pave the way for handover of power from the interim government to an elected administration.

Bangladesh election: Follow LIVE updates on February 12, 2026

Soon after the polling process, party symbols-bearing white ballot papers of the parliamentary election and pink ballots containing ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ votes for the referendum on ‘July Charter’ were being collected to be counted overnight. Credible early trends of the results are expected to trickle in by early morning of Friday (February 13, 2026), party sources said.

“The spontaneous participation of voters, the responsible conduct of political parties, the restraint shown by candidates, and the professionalism of all institutions involved in the electoral process collectively demonstrated that our commitment to democracy remains unwavering,” said Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser to the Interim Government, in a statement after the voting concluded. 

The election was preceded by allegations of voter influence that were levelled by the BNP against Jamaat after a leader of the Islamist party was caught in Saidpur airport in north Bangladesh with 74 lakhs taka on Wednesday. The BNP alleged that several other similar incidents had also come to light.

However Jamaat denied the allegation and said the incident was “stage managed” by security agencies. Both the BNP and Jamaat sent delegations to the Election Commission late Wednesday night to place their versions regarding the case before officials. Several incidents of violence, intimidation and voter influencing were reported from different parts of the country during the polling.