Over 5,13,000 expats cast postal votes ahead of polls

Ahead of the 13th National Parliament elections and referendum, a total of 5,12,916 registered overseas voters have already cast their ballots through the ‘Postal Vote BD’ app, officials said Tuesday (February 10).

Salim Ahmad Khan, team leader of the OCV-SDI project overseeing expatriate voter registration, reported that 7,66,862 ballots were sent to registered voters abroad. Of these, 5,28,233 voters received their ballots, and 5,12,916 have completed voting.

Additionally, 5,02,487 voters submitted ballots via their respective postal services, with 4,19,919 ballots already received in Bangladesh and verified by returning officers.

The Election Commission (EC) has also begun distributing postal ballots to in-country postal voters (ICPVs). So far, 7,60,898 ballots have been sent to registered in-country voters, with 580,841 received, 5,34,376 cast, and 5,408 returned via post. Returning officers have processed 3,10,154 ballots to date.

In total, combining domestic and overseas voters, 15,33,684 voters have registered for postal voting in this year’s election and referendum, marking significant participation ahead of polling day.