A total of 3,07,392 Bangladeshi expatriates have so far registered through the Postal Vote BD app to cast their ballots from abroad in the 13th national election. Of them, 2,84,173 are men and 23,219 are women.
The Election Commission (EC) confirmed the figures from its postal ballot app as of 9:30am on Thursday.
According to the EC’s website, ballot papers have already started being dispatched to the registered expatriates’ respective addresses since Tuesday.
For the first time, the EC has introduced an IT-supported postal voting system, allowing expatriates, individuals in legal custody, and election duty officials to vote through this method. Registration for the app-based system began on 19 November and will continue until 25 December.
Countries where registration is currently open include South Korea, Japan, South Africa, China, Egypt, Mozambique, Libya, Mauritius, Hong Kong, Brazil, Uganda, 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, Central African Republic, Gambia, Peru, Zimbabwe, the United States, Saudi Arabia, among others.
The EC said postal ballots will be mailed to the registrants’ addresses. After voting, they must return the marked ballot in the designated envelope to the returning officer.
The Commission is preparing to hold the 13th parliamentary election in the first half of February, with a target of engaging 5 million expatriate voters through this initiative.
