Tokyo: The Election Commission (EC) is set to commence voter registration and National Identity (NID) card distribution activities for Bangladeshi expatriates residing in Japan. This initiative marks a significant step toward facilitating electoral participation for the Bangladeshi diaspora in the country.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, a technical team will spearhead these activities from the Bangladesh Embassy in Japan starting July 7. EC Senior Secretary Akhter Ahmed is tasked with overseeing the campaign's progress. He will be in Japan from July 13 to July 17 to monitor the operations closely.
Prior to this, a notification was issued on June 26, requesting the Bangladesh Embassy to provide a list of an officer and four data entry operators to support this endeavor. The initiative is part of a broader effort by the EC, which is simultaneously conducting similar voter registration and NID distribution activities in several other countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, UK, Italy, Kuwait, Qatar, Malaysia, Australia, and Canada.
To date, a total of 47,032 Bangladeshi expatriates have applied for voter registration. Mission offices have successfully collected biometric data from 29,563 individuals, with 20,451 of them already registered as voters.