Postal voting registration within Bangladesh from day of poll schedule

Registration for postal voting within Bangladesh will begin the very day the schedule for the 13th parliamentary elections is announced, the Election Commission (EC) has confirmed.

Three categories of voters living in the country – those on election duty, government employees posted outside their home constituencies, and individuals in legal custody – will have 15 days to register via the “Postal Vote BD” app.

Speaking on Saturday, Salim Ahmad Khan, Team Leader of the Out of Country Voting System and Implementation (OCV-SDI) project, said registration for these domestic voters will run from the date of the schedule announcement until 25 December.

The election timetable is widely expected to be unveiled next week. The EC is due to meet President Mohammed Shahabuddin on 10 December, after which the dates are likely to be made public, possibly as early as 11 December.

Expatriate registration extended

Meanwhile, nearly 200,000 Bangladeshi expatriates have already signed up to vote by post. As of 1 pm Saturday, 195,000 non-resident Bangladeshis had registered on the app – 175,000 men and over 19,000 women.

The highest number came from Saudi Arabia (more than 38,000), followed by the United States (over 19,000), Singapore (over 11,000), Malaysia (around 11,000), and the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates (both over 10,000).

Following appeals from political parties and the diaspora, the EC extended the expatriate registration deadline from 18 December to midnight on 25 December, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed confirmed earlier this week.

Strict address rules and technical warnings

Project leader Salim Ahmad Khan issued a strong reminder that expatriates must provide a correct and complete delivery address in their country of residence – either home or workplace – for postal ballots to reach them.

“Anyone who has entered an incorrect address should use the app’s edit function to correct it by 6 December,” he said, warning that ballots cannot be sent without a valid address.

The EC also listed key precautions for users of the Postal Vote BD app:

Do not use a VPN while voting

Remove masks or hats during the liveliness check and facial recognition photo

Mark only one symbol on the ballot

Attempting to register from a different country than your actual location will block the device

Those who register abroad cannot vote in person at polling stations in Bangladesh

The declaration form must be filled accurately

OTP codes will be sent no more than three times to any mobile number

Each person may apply only once per device

The parliamentary elections and a simultaneous referendum are set to take place on the same day in the second half of February 2026.