Over 340,000 Expatriates Register for Postal Voting in 13th National Polls

A total of 340,957 expatriate Bangladeshis have registered through the “Postal Vote BD” app to cast their votes from abroad in the upcoming 13th National Parliamentary Election, according to data from the Election Commission’s (EC) postal ballot platform.

Of the registered voters, 316,642 are men and 24,315 are women. The information was available from the EC’s postal ballot app as of 11:00 am on Saturday.

The Election Commission began dispatching ballot papers to the registered voters’ overseas addresses on 9 December, according to information published on the EC’s website.

This is the first time the EC has introduced an IT-supported postal voting system. Under this arrangement, expatriates, individuals in lawful custody, and officials engaged in election duties are eligible to vote using postal ballots. Registration through the dedicated app is mandatory for participation.

Registration for postal voting began on 19 November and will continue until 25 December.

Expatriate registration is currently open in a wide range of countries, including 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, the United States, and Saudi Arabia, among others.

The EC said postal ballots will be sent by mail to registered voters’ addresses. After casting their votes, voters will return the ballots in the provided envelopes to the respective returning officers.

The Election Commission is currently preparing for the 13th National Parliamentary Election, scheduled to be held on 12 February, with a target of engaging up to five million expatriate voters in the electoral process.

DBTech/Web/IK/OR