Expatriate Voter Registration Crosses 20,000 on Postal Vote BD App
The Election Commission (EC) is preparing to hold the 13th National Parliamentary Election in the first half of February. To enable 5 million expatriates to vote from abroad, the ‘Postal Vote BD’ app was launched. On the morning of the fifth day after the launch, voter registration on the app crossed the 20,000 milestone.
By midnight on 23 November—the initial deadline—17,900 expatriates had registered. Consequently, the EC extended the registration period by five more days until 28 November for the second phase. As of 24 November, a total of 20,696 expatriates from 38 countries had registered on the app. Among them, 18,858 are men and 1,838 are women. Of all applications, 20,560 have been approved, while 136 remain pending.
South Korea accounts for the highest number of registrations with 8,028 voters. At the district level inside Bangladesh, 20,754 people have registered via the app, including 18,906 men and 1,848 women. Among the districts, Dhaka tops with 2,448 registrations, while Bandarban ranks lowest with only 8.
Among constituencies, Chapainawabganj-3 leads with 745 registrations—710 men and 35 women.
Registration for Bangladeshi citizens living in East Asia, South America, and Africa began on 19 November. Within the first three days (until 22 November), 8,201 voters registered—7,581 men and 620 women. On 24 November (just after midnight on 23 November), registration opened for Bangladeshi residents of North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Ballot papers will be mailed to these registered voters by the EC.
It has been learned that Bangladeshi nationals in South Korea, Japan, South Africa, China, Egypt, Mozambique, Libya, Mauritius, Hong Kong, Brazil, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Liberia, Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, Algeria, Angola, Tanzania, Somalia, Ghana, Guinea, Morocco, South Sudan, Chile, Sierra Leone, Ecuador, Taiwan, Argentina, Australia, the Central African Republic, Gambia, Peru, Zimbabwe, and the United States can now register.
The EC website confirmed this information on Monday morning, 24 November.
Saudi expatriates may register from 4–8 December; Bangladeshis living in South Asia and Southeast Asia from 9–13 December; and expatriates in Middle Eastern countries (excluding Saudi Arabia) from 14–18 December.
As a result, there have been no registrations yet from countries such as the UAE, Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bahrain, Brunei, Bolivia, the Bahamas, Bhutan, and others.
Additionally, Bangladesh-based eligible postal voters—those engaged in election duties, government employees, detainees, and citizens living outside their home constituencies—may register from 19–23 December.
The EC has stated that postal ballots will be mailed to the addresses of all app registrants. After casting their vote, they must mail it back to the Returning Officer in a return envelope.
Senior Secretary of the EC Secretariat, Akhtar Ahmed, said:
“For the first time, the OCV (Out-of-Country Voting) process is advancing for Bangladeshi expatriates—an important milestone in the nation’s electoral history. Additionally, around one million voters—including election officials, detainees, and government employees away from their home constituencies—are being brought under the ICPV (In-Country Postal Voting) facility. Although holding a national election and a referendum on the same day is an additional responsibility, preparations are progressing smoothly.”
DBTech/EP/MUIM/OR
