Dhaka: A total of 373,417 expatriate Bangladeshi voters from various countries around the world have registered to participate in the 13th national election and referendum through the "Postal Vote BD" app. At the same time, registration has commenced via the app for government employees assigned to election duties and those residing outside their respective voter areas. As of 1:15 pm today, 12,232 Bangladeshi voters in this category have completed their registration process.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the latest postal voting update, published on the Election Commission (EC) website, reveals that out of the 373,417 registered expatriate voters, 348,335 are male and 25,082 are female. Notably, the countries with significant registration numbers include: 102,240 in Saudi Arabia, 34,053 in Qatar, 24,492 in Malaysia, 22,263 in United Arab Emirates, 21,619 in the USA, 19,599 in Oman, 16,329 in Singapore, 14,561 in the UK, 11,273 in Kuwait, 11,164 in Italy, 10,138 in Canada, 9,711 in South Korea, 8,420 in Australia, and 7,158 in Japan.
Salim Ahmad Khan, Team Leader of the Out of Country Voting (OCV) System Development and Implementation (SDI) Project, expressed optimism about the pace of expatriate voter registration. He noted, "Considering the current pace of expatriate voter registration, we are hopeful that the number of registrations through the Postal Vote BD app may reach 500,000 to 600,000."
Government employees engaged in election duties and individuals staying outside their constituencies can register to exercise their voting rights through the Postal Vote BD app until December 25. In a circular, the EC stated that for the 13th national election and referendum-2026, election officials and employees, government servants posted outside their constituencies, and voters in legal custody must complete registration for the In-Country Postal Voting (ICPV) system through the app between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm by December 25, 2025.
EC Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed indicated that registration for voters in legal custody is scheduled from December 21 to December 25, with the process being completed through the EC. On November 18, the Chief Election Commissioner inaugurated the Postal Vote BD app and announced the registration schedule for expatriate voters in 148 designated countries for the national election.
To vote through postal ballots, expatriate voters must utilize a mobile number from the country where they will cast their vote. For registration, voters must first download and install the Postal Vote BD app from the Google Play Store or App Store, ensuring that they provide a correct address to receive ballots abroad.