SAARC States Show Interest in Bangladesh’s Postal Voting Process
Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam has said that four SAARC member countries—Pakistan, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka—have expressed interest in learning about the postal ballot voting system for expatriates in Bangladesh ahead of the upcoming national parliamentary and referendum elections scheduled for 12 February.
“They want to know how Bangladesh is implementing the system, how successful it is, and whether any issues are emerging in the process,” he said.
Shafiqul Alam made the remarks at a press conference held on Saturday night, 7 February, outside the state guest house Jamuna in the capital.
He said that ballots for expatriate Bangladeshis were sent to 124 countries to facilitate voting through the postal ballot system. Of the expatriates registered under this mechanism, ballots from a total of 422,960 overseas voters have already reached Bangladesh.
As of 7 February, 207,038 ballots had been received by the respective returning officers, he added.
Providing a gender breakdown, the press secretary noted that 94 percent of expatriate voters are male, while female voters account for only 6 percent of those registered under the postal voting system.
DBTech/JN/EK/OR
