Expatriates can cast vote in upcoming polls, EVMs scrapped

In a major development ahead of the upcoming national elections, the Election Commission has announced that Bangladeshi expatriates will be able to cast their votes through a postal ballot system. At the same time, the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in all elections has been officially discontinued.

The decisions were confirmed by Election Commissioner Brigadier General (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah following a commission meeting held on Thursday (July 10) at the Election Commission headquarters in Dhaka.

"This time, expatriate Bangladeshis will definitely be able to vote. The voting will be done through postal ballots," said Commissioner Sanaullah.

He further stated that a Tk 48 crore project has been proposed to develop an IT-supported postal voting system. The estimated average cost per expatriate voter is around Tk 700.

At the same briefing, the Election Commission announced a complete withdrawal from using EVMs in both national and local polls. "There is no political consensus on the use of EVMs. Based on the recommendations of the Reforms Commission, we have decided not to use them in any election,"Sanaullah stated.

He also noted that the commission has submitted a request for expanded authority to cancel elections in an entire constituency if widespread irregularities are found. Currently, the commission is only empowered to cancel results from individual polling centers.

The meeting was chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin and attended by other election commissioners, senior EC officials, and secretaries.