Dhaka: A total of 1,30,672 Bangladeshi expatriate voters have so far registered through the mobile application to cast their votes via postal ballots in the 13th national parliamentary election and the referendum.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the Election Commission (EC) website reported that as of 12:15 pm today, 1,30,672 expatriate voters had completed registration through the 'Postal Vote BD' app.
Among the registered voters, 1,14,083 are male and 16,589 are female. The registration statistics from various countries are as follows: United States - 18,420; Saudi Arabia - 13,014; South Korea - 9,397; Singapore - 9,083; Canada - 8,768; Australia - 7,553; United Kingdom - 7,551; Japan - 6,810; Italy - 5,369; and Malaysia - 5,027.
In response to requests from expatriates, the EC has extended the registration deadline for expatriate voters through the app to December 25. Initially, the registration was scheduled to close at 11:59 pm on December 18. "We had initially set the deadline until December 18 for out-of-country voting. That deadline has now been extended to midnight of December 25," stated Akhtar Ahmed, senior secretary of the EC Secretariat.
Ahmed emphasized that the decision to extend the deadline was made after receiving requests from many expatriates and recognizing the opportunity to facilitate more registrations. He also highlighted the introduction of the In-Country Postal Voting (ICPV) system, which will be available for government officials involved in the election process, voters under legal custody, and government employees residing outside their electoral constituencies. The ICPV registration window will be open for 15 days following the announcement of the election schedule.
The 'Postal Vote BD' application was inaugurated by the Chief Election Commissioner on November 18, who also announced the registration timeline for voters in 148 designated countries for the 13th national election. To vote via postal ballot, expatriate voters must use a mobile number from the country where they intend to cast their vote. For registration, users are required to download and install the 'Postal Vote BD' app from the Google Play Store or the App Store, with instructions available in Bangla or English. Providing an accurate address is crucial to ensure the timely receipt of the ballot abroad.