More than 1.53 million voters have registered to cast their ballots by post in the upcoming 13th Jatiya Sangsad election and referendum, according to the Election Commission.
Data from the commission show that a total of 1,533,682 voters completed registration through the “Postal Vote BD” mobile application, which closed at midnight on Monday. The registration process began on November 18 last year and concluded within the timeframe announced by the commission.
Of those registered, 1,281,434 are male voters, while 252,246 are female.
Among expatriate Bangladeshis, Saudi Arabia recorded the highest number of registrations, with 239,186 voters signing up for postal voting. Malaysia followed with 84,292 registrants, while 76,139 registered from Qatar and 56,207 from Oman.
Under the “in-country postal vote” category, 761,140 voters registered from within Bangladesh. District-wise data show that Cumilla recorded the highest number of registrations at 112,090, followed by Dhaka with 108,755 and Chattogram with 95,297.
At the constituency level, Feni-3 topped the list with 16,093 registered voters, followed by Chattogram-15 with 14,301.
Election Commission sources said postal ballots have been dispatched over the past 16 days to 635,769 expatriate voters living in at least 81 countries. Of these, the largest number of ballots — 207,943 — were sent to voters in Saudi Arabia.
Salim Ahmad Khan, team leader of the Out of Country Voting System and Implementation (OCV-SDI) project, said the registration period through the app would not be extended, citing what he described as a strong response from voters. He said the commission expects the postal ballots sent to expatriates to reach them by January 10.
He also said that maintaining the secrecy of the ballot is the responsibility of the voter, warning that national identity cards could be blocked if ballot secrecy is breached. He added that incorrect addresses were identified for around 10,000 voters, and text messages have been sent requesting them to submit corrected information.
In addition to expatriate voters, election officials and employees on duty, as well as government employees staying outside their home constituencies due to workplace postings, have also registered through the app. Voters in legal custody are also eligible under the postal voting system.
The “Postal Vote BD” app allows expatriate Bangladeshis in 148 countries to register using mobile phone numbers from their host countries.
