Over 8,700 Register for Postal Vote in First Three Days
More than 8,500 voters registered through the Postal Vote BD app in just three days. Of them, 7,581 are men and 620 are women. At the time of writing this report, the total number of registered users stood at 8,782—of whom 8,113 are men and 669 are women.
This information was obtained from the Postal Vote BD registration app on Saturday, 22 November.
Bangladeshis interested in voting in the 13th National Parliamentary Election have registered from 29 countries in the last three days. Nearly half of the registrants are expatriates living in South Korea. The highest number of registrations came from South Korea at 4,062. Japan ranked second with 1,026 registrations. This was followed by South Africa with 1,048, China with 729, Egypt with 225, and Libya with 159 registrations.
The ‘Postal Vote BD’ app was launched last Tuesday to facilitate voting by expatriate Bangladeshis and three categories of individuals within the country. Only registered individuals will be able to cast their ballots through postal voting in the 13th National Election and the national referendum. For registration, the Election Commission has allocated five-day windows for different regions across the world.
According to Brigadier General (Retd.) Salim Ahmad Khan, Team Leader of the Out-of-Country Voting System and Implementation (OCV–SDI) project, expatriates living in 52 countries across East Asia, South America, and Africa will be able to register in the first phase from 19 to 23 November. The full picture of this phase will be available on 23 November.
Expatriates living in other countries will be allowed to register in phases until 18 December, with each region receiving a five-day registration window.
Additionally, three categories of individuals living inside Bangladesh have been brought under registration. They will be able to register between 19 and 23 December. Expatriates who miss their designated window may also register during this period.
Postal Voting Process
Steps in the postal voting process include:
Publicity for Postal Vote BD → Registration → Printing of ballot papers and three types of envelopes → Presence of election officials → Personalization (via postal department) → Sending postal ballots → Ballot tracking → Casting the vote → Dropping the envelope in the nearest mailbox abroad → Return and tracking of postal ballots → Receipt by postal department → Delivery to Returning Officer → Acceptance by Returning Officer → Storing ballots in the ballot box → Counting → Announcement of results.
Registration Process for Expatriate Bangladeshis
App download → Login & registration page → Create an account → Mobile number, email, OTP, verification, password → Login with username (mobile number) and password → NID verification → Facial recognition and liveness check → Selfie → Overseas address, passport and required information → Completion of listing and registration.
Registration for Government Employees
Open enrollment → App login → E-KYC disclaimer → Facial recognition and liveness check → NID verification → iBAS++ verification → Address, OTP → Completion of listing and registration → Printing of voter list → Ballot paper sent via post → Voter receives ballot.
Registration for Election Duty Personnel
Upon finalization of election officers → Postal Vote BD app login → E-KYC disclaimer → Facial recognition & liveness check → NID verification → Address, OTP → Registration → Printing of voter list → Postal delivery of ballot → Voter receives ballot.
Registration of Inmates
After election schedule announcement → Lists from prison authorities → App login at correctional facilities → E-KYC disclaimer → Facial recognition & liveness check → NID verification → Address, OTP → Registration → Voter list printing → Ballot paper sent → Voter receives ballot.
DBTech/DP/IK/OR
