Over 4,500 postal ballots returned due to address issues: EC

Election Commissioner Brigadier General (Retd.) Abul Fazal Md. Sanaullah has said that around 4,500 postal ballots sent to overseas voters have been returned because addresses could not be verified.

Speaking at a briefing at the Election Commission Secretariat in Agargaon on Thursday (January 15), Sanaullah said most of the returned ballots came from Malaysia, followed by Italy. “There is nothing further we can do about these ballots,” he added.

Updating the postal voting process for the upcoming national election, the commissioner said that a total of 767,084 ballots have been dispatched so far. Of these, 707,500 have reached their respective destinations, 59,584 are in transit, and 140,873 ballots have been delivered directly to overseas voters. Ballot tracking is being monitored through QR code scans, he noted.

Sanaullah highlighted concerns about multiple voters using the same address. According to EC data, 171,680 voters shared addresses with at least one other person. In some cases, up to 50–100 voters were registered at the same address, and 14,891 voters were registered at locations housing more than 100 people. “Many overseas workers live in shared accommodations without a fixed personal address. They often use post boxes, nearby shops, or other convenient locations to receive correspondence,” he explained.

The commissioner emphasised that the EC will maintain a strict stance against any malpractice in postal voting. “No compromise will be allowed. Measures ranging from blocking NIDs to filing criminal cases will be taken if necessary. Offenders may even be brought back to Bangladesh,” he warned.

Sanaullah also noted the broader implications of postal voting for Bangladesh’s international image and the labour market. “Any undesirable incidents could negatively affect the country’s workforce abroad,” he cautioned, stressing that the credibility of the election process must be fully protected.

The briefing also provided an overview of the EC’s ‘Postal Vote BD’ app, launched for the first time on November 19, through which overseas and domestic voters registered for postal voting. So far, 772,542 applications have been received from overseas voters and 761,140 from within Bangladesh.