Postal vote: 8,201 expats register in three days

Over the last three days, as many as 8,201 expatriate Bangladeshis have registered to vote in the upcoming 13th parliamentary elections, likely to be held in February 2026.

A total of 7,581 males and 620 females living in 29 countries registered as voters through the Postal Vote BD mobile application, according to the app's data as of 11:00 am on Saturday, November 22.

The highest 3,793 voters registered from South Korea, followed by 1,045 from Japan, 1,000 from South Africa, 656 from China, 225 from Egypt, and 159 from Libya.

Brigadier General (Retd) Salim Ahmad Khan, team leader of the Out of Country Voting (OCV) System Development and Implementation (SDI) project, stated that Bangladeshi nationals residing in 52 countries across East Asia, South America, and African regions can register during the first phase from November 19 to 23.

Bangladeshi citizens living in the remaining countries can register as voters in phases until December 18, he said, adding that the registration period would be five days for every region.

Earlier on Tuesday, November 18, the Election Commission (EC) inaugurated the Postal Vote BD app, enabling Bangladeshi expatriates abroad and three categories of individuals inside the country to become voters in the national elections.

MOS/MSU