DHAKA, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- More than 3,000 nomination papers have been collected from 69 returning officers to contest the polls for Bangladesh's 13th general election to be held on Feb. 12 next year, according to the Bangladeshi Election Commission.

The deadline for submitting nomination papers for the election expired on Monday.

The Election Commission last month said that more than 127 million voters had been registered for the election for the first time since a mass uprising toppled then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last year. ■