A total of 456,872 expatriate Bangladeshis have cast their votes in the 13th parliamentary election and referendum through the Postal Vote BD app, while more than 312,000 registered voters are yet to vote, according to Election Commission (EC) data.
As of Friday evening, the EC had sent postal ballots to 766,862 expatriate voters across different countries. Of them, 515,954 voters have received their ballots. So far, 456,872 expatriates have completed voting, including 406,411 who have already submitted their ballots at post offices in their respective countries. Around 312,710 expatriates are yet to cast their votes.
The EC data also shows that 11,226 postal ballots were returned to Bangladesh after delivery failed due to address complications. Meanwhile, around 60,000 completed postal ballots cast by expatriates have already reached the country.
Separately, 761,142 voters registered through the app from within Bangladesh, including 6,240 voters currently in legal custody. Since 26 January, the EC has started distributing postal ballots to election officials on duty and voters in legal custody across the country.
Under the domestic postal voting process, 244,625 ballots were sent to 52 districts. So far, 2,394 voters have cast their votes through postal ballots, and 1,122 have submitted their completed ballots at local post offices.
The Election Commission has urged postal voters, both at home and abroad, to submit their ballots as soon as possible. The EC warned that ballots received after the deadline – 4:30pm on 12 February – will not be counted.
