Dhaka: A total of 250,012 expatriate Bangladeshis have registered through the Postal Vote BD app to participate in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election and the referendum. This updated figure was disclosed by the Election Commission (EC) on its website this morning.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the EC website reports that among the registered expatriate voters, 228,781 are male and 21,231 are female. Saudi Arabia has the highest number of registrations with 63,034, followed by the United States with 20,049. Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Singapore also have significant numbers of registered voters with 16,326, 14,863, 13,741, and 13,165 respectively.
The EC has extended the deadline until December 9 at 9:00 am (BST) for expatriate voters to correct any incomplete or incorrect addresses in the Postal Vote BD app, as stated in a message issued on Sunday. Saleem Ahmad Khan, Team Leader of the Out of Country Voting (OCV) System Development and Implementation (SDI) Project, confirmed this development to BSS.
Additionally, voters involved in election duties, government officials outside their home constituencies, and those in legal custody can register for postal voting using the app until December 25, according to another EC statement. The Commission has emphasized the importance of providing complete and accurate postal addresses during registration, as ballot papers cannot be delivered without proper address details.
The registration deadline for expatriate voters, initially set for December 18, has been extended to December 25, confirmed EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed.