'Postal Vote BD’ App launched to include expats in 2026 election

A Postal Vote BD mobile app was unveiled through a ceremony at the Nirbachan Bhaban auditorium in the capital.

Dhaka, Nov 18 - Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin on Tuesday said that introducing the postal balloting system for expatriates and other eligible voters will strengthen Bangladesh’s democracy and reinforce the bond between the state and its citizens abroad.

“We firmly believe that this initiative will make the democracy of Bangladesh stronger and deepen the bonding of our expatriate citizens with the state,” he said while inaugurating a new mobile application designed to allow expatriate voters and other specific categories of voters to register for postal balloting in the 13th parliamentary election.

The ‘Postal Vote BD’ mobile app was unveiled through a ceremony at the Nirbachan Bhaban auditorium in the capital.

Expatriate Bangladeshis, persons on election duty, government staff who are serving outside their respective election areas, and those who are behind bars are being allowed to register through the mobile app to vote by postal ballot in the next general election to be held in early February 2026.

In his remarks, the CEC said that expatriates contribute significantly to the nation’s economic citizenship and must also be included in its democratic citizenship.

“Through their votes, the foundation of democracy will become broader, more representative, and stronger,” he said.

He said the EC began working last year to ensure overseas voting in the election, addressing a longstanding deprivation of expatriate citizens who were unable to vote in the past.

“Today’s initiative will make an end to this deprivation,” he added.

He said the commission has brought a hybrid solution to end this deprivation with this IT-supported Postal Balloting system – combining digital registration with manual balloting, to overcome the structural challenges of implementing the balloting abroad.

“We’ve tried to plug in all human conceivable gaps that might exist” said Nasir Uddin, noting that expatriates have effectively been unable to vote for the past 54 years. “This time they can vote. It is a huge challenge to create confidence in the system.”

He emphasised that Bangladesh’s democratic rights should no longer be confined to geographical borders.

“We believe that the postal balloting will play a significant role in achieving this goal. We’re not launching just an app but also introducing a new chapter where the Bangladeshi citizenship is not confined in any geographical location, rather it is a global (the citizen rights can be exercised from throughout the world). The postal vote opens the door of our democracy globally,” said the CEC.

Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said the commission has developed a hybrid solution to enable expatriates to cast their votes through the postal system.

Sanaullah said that since every envelope is personalised and uniquely identifiable, each postal ballot can always be traced. “We will be able to easily identify every postal ballot,” he said.

Mentioning that no postal ballot system is challenge-free in the world, the commissioner said their newly developed IT-supported postal balloting system is not completely free of challenges either.

Explaining the challenges, he said the global registration rate for postal balloting is less than three percent.

“Exactly, the registration rate is only 2.7 percent,” he said.

Besides, the wastage rate of postal ballots is high. “The wastage rate is 24 percent, which means one-fourth of the ballots are wasted,” said Sanaullah.

He said cyber security is another challenge for the postal balloting system. “So, to have some glitches here is not unusual,” said the Election Commissioner.

He said voters who intend to vote through postal ballot will have to make a pledge that they must maintain the secrecy of their vote.

Election commissioners Tahmida Ahmad and Md Anwarul Islam Saker were present.

EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed delivered the welcome speech at the function attended by stakeholders in person and also by expatriates and Bangladeshi diplomats working in various missions around the world through a virtual platform.

Speaking at the function virtually, Bangladesh Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Md Delwar Hossain said some 35 lakh expatriate Bangladeshis are living in Saudi Arabia and expressed optimism that many voters will exercise their franchise in the upcoming national election from the country.

According to EC officials, 7-8 percent of the country’s voters are staying abroad.

The Election Commission has targeted some 50 lakh expatriate voters from 143 countries.

The EC has a plan to start sending postal ballots with all listed symbols to different destinations soon after the announcement of the election schedule.

Expatriate voters can cast their vote after the allocation of electoral symbols and drop their ballot at their nearby post office to send it back to the returning officer concerned by election day. - UNB