More than 156,000 expatriate Bangladeshi voters from different countries across the world have so far registered through a mobile app, ‘Postal Vote Bd’, since 19 November last to vote in the upcoming national election and the referendum to be held in a single day in early February 2026.
The Election Commission (EC) launched the ‘Postal Vote Bd’ app on to bring expatriate voters living in 143 countries under the postal balloting system.
As of 12pm on Wednesday, a total of 156,712 expatriates, 139,107 male and 17,605 female, had registered through the app.
Among the registrants, the highest number came from Saudi Arabia (22,176), followed by the USA (18,713), Singapore (9,878), South Korea (9,421), the UK (8,973), Canada (8,915), Malaysia (8,013), Australia (7,646), Japan (6,855), the UAE (6,599), Italy (5,952), Qatar (5,478), Oman (4,838), South Africa (4,744) and Maldives (3,478).
Among the registered expats, the highest 23,848 will vote in Dhaka district from abroad, while 14,820 in Cumilla, 11,701 in Chattogram, 9,929 in Sylhet, 9,718 in Noakhali, 5,520 in Feni, 5,186 in Chandpur, 4,499 in Brahmanbaria, 4,030 in Moulvibazar and 3,966 in Lakshmipur district.
In terms of constituencies, the highest 3,200 registered expats will vote in Sylhet-1, while 2,817 in Noakhali-1 constituency, 2,486 in Sylhet-6 constituency, 2,303 in Dhaka-18 constituency, 2,277 in Feni-3 constituency, 2,247 in Noakhali-3 constituency, 2,043 in Noakhali-5 constituency, 1,953 in Feni-2 constituency, 1,894 in Dhaka-10 constituency and 1,832 in Cumilla-6.
The registration process for expatriates will continue till 25 December next.
Besides, the app will remain open for the government officials, polling personnel, and prisoners under lawful custody for a 15-day period after the election schedule is announced.
Though the postal balloting system has been in the laws for a long time, it was never practiced in the previous elections.
This is the first time the Election Commission is introducing a hybrid postal balloting system, enabling expatriates, government staff, polling personnel and inmates to exercise their franchise through a combination of digital registration and manual voting.
The Election Commission will announce the schedule for the next general election and referendum in the second week of December.
