The Election Commission (EC) has inaugurated the “Postal Vote BD” application to facilitate voting for expatriate Bangladeshis.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin launched the app at the Nirbachan Bhaban auditorium on Tuesday. The event was attended by the four election commissioners, senior EC officials, secretaries from different ministries, and numerous politicians.
. This is the first time such an initiative has been launched in Bangladesh.
Reaffirming the commission’s commitment to ensuring everyone’s voting rights, Nasir said, “This is not just an app; it is the start of a new chapter in Bangladesh.”
He added that while approximately 13 million people currently live and work abroad, they have been deprived of voting rights until now. This initiative ends that disenfranchisement.
Election Commissioner Brig Gen (Retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah highlighted several challenges in registering expatriates.
“The first is the registration rate. The average global registration rate for expatriate voters is 2.7 per cent. The second challenge is the ballot wastage rate. The global wastage rate is 24 per cent – meaning one in every four ballots is wasted,” he said.
EC Sanaullah mentioned another significant challenge – cybersecurity.
“Globally, such systems typically undergo a trial period of at least five years. We have not even tested ours for a full month. However, we are ensuring there are no errors that could cast doubt on the vote,” he assured.
While presenting the keynote, Brig Gen (Retd) Saleem Ahmed Khan, chief of the Out-of-Country Voting System Development and Implementation Project, outlined the entire voting process.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission announced that the registration process will run from 19 November to 23 December, divided across seven global regions over 35 days, with five-day registration windows for each.
The schedule is as follows – East Asia, South America, and Africa from 19-23 November; North America and Oceania from 24-28 November; Europe from 29 November-3 December; the Middle East from 4-8 December; South and Southeast Asia from 9-13 December; the Middle East (excluding Saudi Arabia) from 14-18 December.
Additionally, Bangladeshi government officers, officials on election duty, and individuals under legal remit can register from 19-23 December.
EC officials stated that after registration via the app, the officials will prepare a separate voter list.
Ballot papers will then be sent to the addresses provided via returnable envelopes. After the candidate list is finalised, voters will log into the app again to view the candidates, cast their votes, and post the sealed return envelope via the nearest post office or mailbox back to the commission.
These votes will be stored in the government treasury and counted on election day.
The EC has set a target to register 5 million voters from 143 countries. Initially, 2 million ballot papers will be printed, with more to be printed as needed. The postal ballots will feature only the candidate’s symbol, not their name.
