Dhaka, Nov. 18 -- Bangladesh is entering the election season with a voter roll nearing the 130-million mark, after the Election Commission (EC) confirmed a final count of 127.69 million eligible citizens for next February's general election.

The figures -- detailed at a Tuesday briefing by EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed -- underscore both the scale of the electorate and the shifts in voter demographics over the past year.

Announcing the updated roll, Akhtar said the list now includes 64.81 million men and 62.87 million women, placing the number of female voters 1.93 million behind their male counterparts.

The roll also records 1,234 third-gender voters.

The latest figures cap a year of phased revisions under the commission led by Chief Ele...