Dhaka: As Bangladesh prepares for the February 12 general election and referendum, the Election Commission’s newly introduced IT-supported hybrid postal balloting system has raised hopes for voters away from their constituencies. However, journalists covering polls outside their home areas are once again set to miss the opportunity to vote.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the Election Commission has, for the first time, introduced postal voting for expatriate Bangladeshis and selected groups within the country. The system applies to government officials, bankers, officials engaged in election duties, and voters in legal custody who cannot stay in their constituencies on polling day.
Journalists, however, have been excluded from the arrangement, despite being professionally deployed across districts to cover the election, a role widely recognised as essential to the democratic process. As a result, a significant number of media professionals are likely to remain unable to cast their votes in the upcoming polls, continuing a pattern that has persisted for years.
According to a briefing by Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, the postal voting initiative has received an unprecedented response. A total of 1,533,682 voters registered through the Postal BD app, including 761,140 domestic voters who will be on duty or away from their constituencies on election day, alongside 772,542 expatriate voters. Journalists working outside their registered constituencies argue that the facility should not be limited to specific professions.
Kaler Kantho Editor Hasan Hafiz, who is also the Jatiya Press Club President, expressed that the government’s introduction of a new postal ballot system is commendable but should have included journalists. ‘Journalists are, in a sense, expatriates within their own country. When others assigned election-day duties are given the opportunity, why are journalists treated in such a discriminatory manner?’ he said.
Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU) President Abu Saleh Akon emphasized that journalists covering assignments on election day should have access to the postal ballot system. ‘We urge the government to consider this,’ he added.
Secretary of the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) Khurshid Alam expressed concerns over the exclusion, stating that journalists are being deprived of the opportunity to vote while performing professional duties for the country. He urged the government to ensure journalists are given the same opportunity to vote as others.
Similar concerns were echoed outside the capital. Khulna Press Club Convener Enamul Haque highlighted that journalists in Khulna engaged in professional duties on election day would not be able to exercise their voting rights. In Chattogram, Press Club President Zahidul Karim suggested that genuine journalists working outside their constituencies could have been included under the postal voting system.
Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud mentioned that if the newly introduced IT-supported postal balloting system proves successful, the Commission would consider extending the facility to journalists and other communities. For now, however, journalists covering the polls across Bangladesh remain on the sidelines of the ballot – reporting on democracy while being unable to participate in it themselves.