A total of 144,860 postal ballots cast by Bangladeshi expatriates have reached the country ahead of the 13th parliamentary election and referendum, the Election Commission (EC) said today.
The EC said it had sent 766,862 postal ballots to voters living abroad, of which 518,345 were received by expatriates.
Among those who received ballots, 458,059 expatriates cast their votes, of which 410,928 voters submitted their completed ballots at post offices abroad for return to Bangladesh. So far, 144,860 postal ballots have reached in the country, the commission added.
Within Bangladesh, the EC said 518,603 postal ballots were sent to local voters. Of them, 7,367 voters received their ballots, 4,902 cast their votes, and 2,394 submitted their ballots at post offices.
According to the EC, more than 15.3 lakh voters registered through the designated app to vote by postal ballot in the upcoming parliamentary election and referendum.
In the 13th National Parliamentary Election and referendum, the highest number of postal votes from expatriate Bangladeshis has come from Saudi Arabia, according to the EC’s latest country-wise analysis released today.
Saudi Arabia accounted for 143,875 postal ballots. Other countries with notable participation include Qatar (44,975), Malaysia (42,157), Oman (39,467), Kuwait (24,102), the United Arab Emirates (21,534), the United Kingdom (18,120), the United States (14,535), Italy (12,152) and Singapore (10,546).
The EC data also showed that 23 countries have yet to send a single postal ballot.
These countries are Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Gambia, Guyana, Iran, Lesotho, Liberia, Mongolia, Niger, North Macedonia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Eswatini (Swaziland), Trinidad and Tobago, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
