The first phase of registration for expatriate Bangladeshis seeking to vote in the 13th national parliamentary election through postal ballots ends today (23 November).
According to the Election Commission's (EC) registration report, available on https://portal.ocv.gov.bd/report, as of 9:45pm, 18,857 voters from 34 countries across East Asia, South America, and Africa have registered through the "Postal Vote BD" app.
The EC has set five-day registration windows for expatriates across different regions.
In the first phase, from 19 to 23 November, Bangladeshi expatriates living in East Asia, South America, and Africa were eligible to register.
Salim Ahmad Khan, team leader of the 'Out of Country Voting System and Implementation' (OCV–SDI) project, said expatriates in other regions will be allowed to register in phases until 18 December.
"From the launch of the app on 19 November until today at 7:30pm, a total of 17,650 voters from 34 countries completed registration. Of them, 16,136 are men and 1,514 are women," said Salim.
Registrants include voters from South Korea, Japan, South Africa, and China. A complete picture of the registration tally will be available after midnight.
A special registration period has been set for three categories of individuals inside Bangladesh, as well as expatriates who missed earlier registration opportunities, from 19 to 23 December.
Only registered voters will be eligible to cast their ballots via postal voting in the 13th parliamentary election and the referendum.