Postal Vote BD app, launched by the Election Commission (EC) to enable remote voting at home and abroad, is navigating troubled waters. The app is being flooded with large volumes fraudulent SMS messages, hacking attempts, and incorrect voter addresses.
Commission officials say perpetrators have been sending thousands of fraudulent messages to the app, triggering an automated reply for each SMS. This in turn is causing EC’s expenditure on SMS fees to skyrocket.
Most of these attacks are originating from countries with weak telecom regulations, including Mauritania, Mozambique and Kyrgyzstan. Cyberattacks have also been detected from Israel.
Sources say such attacks typically occur early in the morning in Bangladesh. In one instance, a country with fewer than 15 registered voters generated over 8,000 SMS messages. Initially thought to be bot activity, the attacks were later found to be deliberate.
Alongside these technological challenges, EC is also facing difficulties due to incorrect voter addresses.
Officials said many expatriates are entering their village addresses, while others claim they do not know the address of their native homes. Due to widespread errors, registrations from several countries were temporarily suspended.
To raise voter awareness, embassies and community leaders have been engaged, but the problem persists to this day. EC has now formed country-specific teams to contact voters directly and correct inaccurate information.
A senior ICT official at EC, speaking on condition of anonymity, said hackers were unable to gain system access due to advanced security measures. So, they have resorted to overwhelming the system with SMS messages. “This is increasing the EC’s cost,” he said.
Asked about the costs, he said each OTP costs around 30 paisa in Bangladesh.
When asked which countries are sending the most fraudulent SMS messages, the official said it is not always possible to determine the source accurately, as IP addresses can be masked. At least 15 to 20 countries’ IP addresses are being used for the attack.
Addressing this issue, EC Additional Secretary KM Ali Newaz told TIMES of Bangladesh, “Countries with smaller expatriate populations are generating disproportionately high volumes of SMS and OTP requests.
“For this reason, activities must be paused from time to time,” he said, adding that many expatriate voters are providing incorrect addresses, complicating the process. “If the address is wrong, the ballot will not reach the correct location.”
Responding to a question about incorrect address identification process, Newaz said, “The postal service can detect them. Post offices know which addresses will not work. They are working with us, preparing voter lists and writing the names of registered voters on each envelope.”
Ali Newaz added that if there are no major complications, this could become a major milestone.
“In the future, postal ballots could be widely used inside the country as well if this initiative succeeds, as it will reduce many logistical difficulties,” the commission official pointed out.
Meanwhile, as of 5.30pm Monday, a total of 2,55,948 expatriate Bangladeshis from various countries had registered through the Postal Vote BD app to vote in the national polls and referendum. Among them, 2,34,546 are men and 21,402 are women.
By country, the highest registrations came from Saudi Arabia with 65,575 voters, followed by the United States with 20,095.
By district, Dhaka recorded the highest number of registrations with 30,698 voters. By constituency, Noakhali-1 saw the highest number of registrations with 4,409 voters. A total of 34 constituencies has more than 2,000 registered voters.
