Election Commission (EC) has published a set of instructions outlining how individuals held in prisons or other forms of legal custody in Bangladesh will be able to cast their votes in the upcoming 13th national election and referendum.
Under Rule 10A of the Election Conduct Rules 2008 (Amended 2025), detainees who are registered voters will be allowed to vote using the “In-Country Postal Voting (ICPV)” system, reports BSS.
The directives, signed by Election Commission Deputy Secretary Mohammad Monir Hossain, were issued on Wednesday and circulated to the IG (Prison).
According to the guidelines, the approval for enrolling voters in prisons or legal custody will come from the relevant authorities. Registration must be completed through the designated web portal at — https://prisoner.ocv.gov.bd/login.
Each prison or legal custody institution will appoint two officials to manage the registration process of interested detainees. Once registration is completed, the authorities will prepare a printed voter list, authenticate it with official seal and signatures, and send it to the Election Commission.
At the same time, the nominated officials will upload the required voter data in .xls/.csv format to the specified online system.
Eligible voters in detention will receive postal voting materials through the concerned authority. The package provided by the EC will include two separate ballot papers, one for the parliamentary election and another for the referendum, along with voting instructions, a declaration form, and a return envelope addressed to the Returning Officer.
The instructions further require prison and legal custody authorities to arrange an appropriate and secure environment so that detainees can vote properly.
The postal ballot papers will not display candidates’ names. Instead, only the assigned election symbols will appear, with blank boxes beside each symbol. To address this, authorities will supply voters with the final list of candidates, showing names and symbols for the relevant constituencies.
Voters are to indicate their choice in the parliamentary election by placing a tick mark (? ) or a cross (x) in the blank box next to the chosen symbol. For the referendum, voters will similarly mark (? ) or (x) in the box beside Yes or No.
Before casting the vote, each voter must complete and sign the declaration form using their name and national identity card number. If a voter cannot sign, the declaration may be attested by another voter.
After marking the ballots, voters must place the two ballot papers into separate small envelopes and seal them. These envelopes, along with the signed declaration form, must then be inserted into the yellow return envelope bearing the Returning Officer’s address, sealed, and submitted at the designated location within the prison or legal custody facility.
Once voting concludes, the authorities are responsible for safely storing all sealed postal ballot envelopes and promptly sending or delivering them to the nearest post office. The post office will then ensure the ballots are forwarded to the appropriate Returning Officer without delay.
The EC clarified that voters will not need to pay any postal charges, as the cost of sending the ballot envelopes will be covered by the government of Bangladesh, the handout said.
