Dhaka: A total of 3,30,946 Bangladeshi expatriates have registered through the Postal Vote BD app to vote in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Election and the national referendum, the Election Commission (EC) said. Of them, 3,06,908 are male and 24,038 are female.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the highest number of registrations came from Saudi Arabia with 91,803 expatriates, followed by Qatar with 29,000, the UAE with 21,747, the USA with 21,165, Malaysia with 20,886, Singapore with 16,664, Oman with 14,935, the UK with 14,337, and Italy with 10,576. Other countries include Canada (9,993), South Korea (9,623), Kuwait (9,019), Australia (8,279), and Japan (7,105).
Salim Ahmad Khan, team leader of the Out-of-Country Voting System and Implementation (OCV-SDI) Project, mentioned that the number of registrants may reach five to six lakh given the current pace. "Every week, we coordinate with ambassadors or mission heads of different countries. Since independence, no one has done this for every embassy in such a manner," he added.
He further stated that the EC has extended address-correction services to seven countries-Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Malaysia, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain-until 9 am (Bangladesh time) on December 14. "This ensures expatriate voters provide accurate addresses, which is essential to receive postal ballots," the OCV-SDI team leader continued.
Government employees on election duty or residing outside their constituencies can register through the app until December 25. Voters in lawful custody can register from December 21 to December 25. Android users can already download the app, while iPhone users are expected to gain access after the election schedule is announced.
The Chief Election Commissioner inaugurated the Postal Vote BD app on November 18 and announced the registration schedule for voters in 148 designated countries. Expatriate voters must use a mobile number from the country where they will vote.