EC suspends postal ballot registration in 7 countries

The Election Commission (EC) has temporarily suspended overseas voter registration in seven countries through the ‘Postal Vote BD’ app, which allows citizens to cast their votes from abroad. The registration process was halted because voters did not provide accurate and complete addresses.

Brigadier General (Retd) Salim Ahmad, team leader of the Out-of-Country Voting System, confirmed the information on Thursday (27 November).

The EC said that due to errors in the addresses provided by voters, registration has been temporarily suspended in Bahrain, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The commission emphasised that without accurate and complete addresses, ballot papers cannot be sent to voters, leaving it with no option but to suspend registration in these countries.

EC officials noted that a significant number of expatriate voters did not provide full or correct residential addresses during registration, creating uncertainty in sending postal ballots.

The EC has urged overseas voters in the affected countries to submit accurate and complete information as soon as possible to complete their registration. Registration will resume once the address-related issues are resolved.