Ducsu polls set for September 9

The long-awaited elections to the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu) and hall unions will be held on September 9, 2025, from 8:00am to 3:00pm.

Chief Returning Officer Prof Mohammad Jashim Uddin announced the schedule at a press conference yesterday at the Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Building.

As per the schedule, the draft voter list will be published on July 30. Students will have until August 6 to submit objections, and the final list of voters will be published on August 11.

The initial list of candidates will be released on August 21 at 1:00pm. The deadline for withdrawal of candidacy is August 25, and the final list will be published the following day by 4:00pm.

Voting will take place without interruption on September 9, and counting will begin immediately after polling ends. Results are expected to be announced on the same day.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Prof Jashim said six counting centres have been designated for the 18 residential halls.

Hall union results will be declared at the respective counting centres, although the sealed ballot boxes will also be sent to the central office.

As per the electoral code of conduct, campaigning can begin only after the final voter list is published. From that date, candidates may campaign daily from 10:00am to 11:00pm, until 24 hours before election day.

Although Ducsu elections are meant to be held annually, the last election was held in 2019 after a 29-year hiatus. Prior to that, DU last held the polls in 1990. Jahangirnagar University held its last central union election in 1992, Rajshahi University in 1989, and Chittagong University in 1990.

The announcement follows months of debate over whether the polls should be held before or after the upcoming national election. Leaders of Bangladesh Chhatra Dal had demanded the vote be held after the national polls, while groups like Students Against Discrimination, Islami Chhatra Shibir, and several left-leaning student organisations had called for early elections.

Rajshahi University on Monday announced that its central union (Rucsu) election will be held on September 15. Jahangirnagar University earlier fixed September 11, revising an earlier date of July 31. Chittagong University has yet to announce its schedule.