EC Clarifies Viral Bahrain Postal Ballot Video

The Election Commission (EC) has issued a clarification following widespread discussion and criticism over a viral video showing multiple postal ballot envelopes being counted inside a residence in Bahrain.

Responding to journalists’ questions, Senior Secretary of the Election Commission Secretariat Akhtar Ahmed said the video showed 160 ballot envelopes, and there was no evidence that any envelopes had been opened. He added that the matter is being reviewed by Bangladesh’s Ambassador to Bahrain.

He further stated that the Bahrain Postal Service (Bahrain Post) will investigate whether any procedural deviations occurred during the distribution of the postal ballots and will report its findings.

According to Akhtar Ahmed, someone may have recorded and shared the video out of excitement upon receiving the postal ballots. “However, in my personal opinion, this should not have been done,” he said.

Explaining the situation further, the EC secretary said the process resembled how letters are often left at a designated place in student hostels for residents to collect themselves. “In a similar manner, 160 ballots were left in a box. When four or five expatriate Bangladeshis opened it, they shared the ballots among themselves, saying, ‘This is for the person living next door; I’ll deliver it.’ That’s essentially what happened,” he explained.

He added that the issue was immediately communicated to Bahrain Post, which will conduct an on-site investigation to determine why this occurred and whether established procedures were breached.

Meanwhile, the BNP has alleged irregularities in postal ballots, claiming that the sheaf of paddy symbol was placed in a way that caused a fold through the middle of the symbol. Responding to this allegation, Akhtar Ahmed said that, to his knowledge, the arrangement of symbols on postal ballots followed the sequence published in the official gazette.

The explanation was provided by the EC secretary while responding to journalists at the Election Commission building on Wednesday, January 14.

DBTech/JNS/EK/OR