EC completes dispatch of postal ballots to expatriate voters

Election Commission (EC) has completed the dispatch of postal ballots to 767,028 registered expatriate voters in 121 countries, enabling them to take part in the upcoming 13th National Parliament Election and the referendum.

According to EC sources, the process began in phases on December 20 and was completed within nearly three weeks, covering all eligible overseas voters.

Bangladesh Postal Department confirmed that all ballots received from EC were sent to international destinations by Thursday.

Assistant Postmaster General of Airport Sorting Office, Shamim Sohani, said the ballots were transported through several international carriers, including Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Emirates, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Saudia Airlines, to ensure swift delivery.

He added that the ballots are expected to reach their destinations within the next few days.

The large-scale “Out of Country Voting” (OCV) operation was conducted with coordinated support from Election Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Bangladesh Postal Department, Civil Aviation Authority and the concerned airlines.

Salim Ahmad Khan, team leader of OCV-SDI project for expatriate voter registration, said ballots could not be sent to some registered voters due to incorrect or incomplete addresses.

He also noted that 761,141 voters have registered for in-country postal voting within Bangladesh.

“Dispatch of ballots to in-country postal voters will begin after election symbols are allocated on January 21, and the entire process of sending and receiving ballots within the country may take about seven days,” he said.

Salim Ahmad Khan cautioned voters to ensure the secrecy of their ballots, warning that any violation of ballot confidentiality could result in the blocking of the voter’s National Identity Card (NID).

Country-wise data show that the highest number of ballots; 237,529, were sent to Saudi Arabia, followed by Malaysia with 84,174, Qatar with 75,869 and Oman with 56,063 voters.

According to EC records, a total of 1,533,683 voters registered through ‘Postal Vote BD’ app for the election and referendum, including 772,542 expatriate voters and 761,141 in-country voters.