Election Commission (EC) has initiated the distribution of postal ballots to 7,28,023 Bangladeshi voters residing abroad for the upcoming 13th national election and referendum.
Salim Ahmad Khan, the team leader of the Out of Country Voting System and Implementation (OCV-SDI) project, confirmed that ballots have been dispatched to registered expatriates across 104 countries.
He stated that the remaining registered overseas voters would receive their ballots as soon as possible.
“However, maintaining the secrecy of the ballot is the responsibility of the concerned voter,” he cautioned, adding that any violation of ballot secrecy could lead to the blocking of the individual’s National Identity Card (NID).
According to EC data, the largest consignments were sent to major host countries. Saudi Arabia received the highest number, with ballots for 2,23,943 voters, followed by Malaysia with 83,827 and Qatar with 74,000.
EC reported that a total of 15,33,683 voters have registered to use postal ballots via the “Postal Vote BD” mobile app for this election. This figure comprises 7,61,141 domestic registrations and 7,72,542 expatriates.
In the latest shipment on Wednesday evening, 50,790 ballots were sent abroad. This batch included 17,000 for Saudi Arabia, 11,750 for Malaysia, and 10,200 for Oman.
