In a historic development ahead of Bangladesh’s national election scheduled for February 12, the South Asian nation is set to conduct postal voting for the first time since its independence, enabling millions of citizens living abroad and certain groups at home to cast their ballots ahead of election day. The initiative, announced by the Election Commission (EC), is part of a broader effort to expand electoral participation and modernize the voting process in the country.
Voters wishing to participate in the postal ballot system were required to register via a specially developed digital platform called the Postal Vote BD App, which was launched by authorities to streamline registration, verification and ballot distribution. Prospective participants were instructed to download the app, create a personal profile and provide necessary verification details including passport information and a recent facial photograph. Once approved by the EC, voters received their ballot papers for marking and returning via local postal services to their respective constituencies in Bangladesh.
More than 1.53 million voters, both within Bangladesh and abroad, registered on the app to cast their votes by postal ballot. Among these, expatriate Bangladeshis — especially those in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia, along with significant numbers in the United States, United Kingdom, Qatar and Malaysia — formed a large portion of the registered postal voters. Ballots were dispatched to a total of 766,862 overseas voters ahead of the election. As of early February, close to 480,000 expatriates had already cast their votes and submitted their ballots to postal offices or mailboxes in their deployed countries, with approximately 380,000 of those ballots reaching Bangladesh for counting.
The EC stressed that for a ballot to be valid, it must reach the returning officer of the relevant constituency by 4:30 pm on February 12, the official end of polling hours in Bangladesh. Ballots received later than this deadline will not be counted, the commission clarified. Election administrators have also warned voters against sharing images or any information about their postal ballots on social media, saying such actions could lead to blocking of National Identity Cards (NIDs) and possible criminal charges under election regulations.
Under the postal voting system, returned ballot papers will undergo verification by election officials to confirm their authenticity before being securely stored until counting begins. The counts will take place after the in-person voting concludes, and may take slightly longer due to the need for meticulous checks on the postal ballots. The EC has put arrangements in place to ensure transparency in the process, including the appointment of presiding officers and authorized agents to oversee vote counting.
The introduction of postal voting also extends to other groups who cannot physically attend their designated polling stations on election day, such as government officials on duty outside their home constituencies and individuals in lawful custody, including prisoners. This marks a significant expansion of voter inclusion, allowing segments of the population previously unable to vote to take part in the democratic process.
As Bangladesh prepares for elections that will also include a national referendum, authorities expect that the postal ballot system could play an important role in close races, particularly in constituencies with high numbers of expatriate voters. Officials and overseas participants alike are now watching closely as election day approaches, noting that the successful implementation of postal voting could set a precedent for future electoral cycles in the country.
