Over 12 lakh voters have so far registered to cast their ballots through the postal voting system in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election and referendum.
According to the latest data available on the Election Commission (EC) website until 5:30 pm on Thursday, a total of 1,200,057 voters completed registration through the Postal Vote BD app.
Of them, 1,037,035 are male and 163,020 are female.
Besides expatriate Bangladeshis, election officials and employees, as well as government servants staying outside their constituencies, are registering under the postal voting system.
Among expatriate voters, Saudi Arabia topped the list with 205,613 registrations.
Other countries include Qatar with 70,274 voters, Malaysia with 68,803, Oman with 50,449 and the United Arab Emirates with 31,674 registrants.
Within the country, 5,21,981 voters registered under the ‘in-country postal voting’ category.
District-wise, Cumilla recorded the highest number of registrations with 92,894 voters, followed by Dhaka with 86,509 and Chattogram with 78,681.
Seat-wise, Feni-3 ranked first with 14,526 registered voters, followed by Chattogram-15 with 11,964 and Noakhali-1 with 11,916.
Team Leader of the Out of Country Voting System and Implementation (OCV-SDI) project Salim Ahmad Khan said that they expect expatriate voter registration to exceed seven lakhs, while in-country postal voter registration may cross 10 lakhs.
He also said that the allocation of electoral symbols is scheduled for 21 January, expressing hope that postal ballots would reach expatriate voters before that date.
To ensure wider participation in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election and referendum, the EC has extended the registration deadline for postal voting through the Postal Vote BD app until January 5.
EC Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhter Ahmed disclosed the information on Tuesday.
He said that the registration deadline was earlier set for 31 December for expatriate voters and three in-country categories—government employees, election duty officials and staff, and voters under legal custody.
However, many voters at home and abroad requested additional time to complete registration, he added.
Considering the requests, the commission decided to extend the registration period until 5 January, he said.
The Postal Vote BD app, launched on 18 November, enables expatriate Bangladeshis from 148 countries to register.
For registration, expatriate voters must use a mobile number of the respective country.
