DHAKA — A total of 8,584 expatriate Bangladeshis registered to cast postal ballots in the upcoming 13th parliamentary election within the first three days of the rollout of a new mobile app, the Election Commission said Saturday.
The Postal Vote BD app was officially launched Tuesday evening by Chief Election Commissioner A.M.M. Nasir Uddin. It is the first time in Bangladesh’s history that expatriates will be able to vote by postal ballot.
Of those registered, 7,933 were men and 651 were women, according to data from the app as of Saturday afternoon, Nov. 22. Registrations came from 29 countries in the first three days.
Nearly half the registrants were Bangladeshis living in South Korea, with 3,968 sign-ups. Japan followed with 1,984, and South Africa with 1,023.
Only those who register will be eligible to vote by postal ballot in the 13th parliamentary election and the planned referendum. The Election Commission has set a five-day registration window for each region of the world.
Retired Brig. Gen. Saleem Ahmad Khan, team leader of the Out of Country Voting System and Implementation project, said expatriates in 52 countries in East Asia, South America and Africa could register between Nov. 19 and Nov. 23 in the first phase. A complete picture of that phase will be available on Nov. 23.
Expatriates in the remaining countries will be able to register in phases through Dec. 18, with five days allotted for each region.
Three categories of people inside the country have also been brought under the registration program. They will be able to register between Dec. 19 and Dec. 23, along with any expatriates who missed earlier deadlines.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report