Strong response to postal ballots as over 5 lakh expatriates cast vote

There has been a strong response to the use of postal ballots by expatriate voters ahead of the upcoming 13th national parliamentary election.

According to the latest data from the Election Commission, a total of 524,166 expatriate Bangladeshis have cast their votes through postal ballots so far. Of these, 194,914 ballots have already reached Bangladesh.

The information was confirmed to the media on Monday, February 2, by Dr Salim Ahmad Khan, team leader of the OCV and ICPV projects.

He said that a total of 766,862 postal ballots had been sent to expatriates in different countries. Among them, 464,225 expatriates have exercised their voting rights directly.

Currently, 418,962 ballots remain in postal boxes in various countries, of which 1,859 have completed the process of being sent to returning officers.

The Election Commission also released data on domestic postal voting. Within the country, 646,507 ballots were sent, and so far 43,319 voters have cast their votes.

Voters deposited 29,334 ballots in postal boxes, though the rate of ballots reaching returning officers has been slow. So far, returning officers have received only 147 ballots, while data from the EC website shows that returning officers in Dhaka district alone have received 588 ballots.

To ensure expatriate participation, the Election Commission took special initiatives, resulting in this record number of postal votes.

Meanwhile, ballot papers and other election materials have been sent from Dhaka in phases under tight security since Sunday. These materials will be stored at returning officers’ offices and delivered to polling centres a day before voting.

Around 260 million ballot papers are being printed for the national parliamentary election and referendum, at a total cost of Tk 400 million.