Dhaka, Sept 25, 2025: Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Abdul Fazal Md Sanaullah on Wednesday said a new mobile app, ‘Postal Vote BD’, will be launched by the third week of November to register expatriate voters for the upcoming national election, expected in February.
“We’re developing this app under the Out of Country Voting (OCV) system. InshAllah, it will be ready by November,” he told reporters at Nirbachan Bhaban in Dhaka.
Sanaullah explained that ballot papers will show election symbols of candidates, not their names. After symbols are allotted, expatriates can view the final candidate list on the app or website and then cast their votes. They will later send the completed ballots back to Bangladesh.
He confirmed expatriates will not bear any cost. “Each postal ballot costs about Tk700, but this time, voters abroad will not have to pay anything,” he said.
The commissioner noted that globally, registration for postal ballots averages only 2.7%, with turnout below 30%. But he believes Bangladeshi expatriates are more enthusiastic than others.
Referring to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, Sanaullah said expectations must remain realistic. He pointed out two major challenges: protecting ballot secrecy and the risk of ballots being invalidated if court rulings change candidate lists after dispatch. He added that worldwide, about 24% of postal ballots never reach their destination through regular mail.
To reduce risks, the EC is introducing a hybrid solution — registered voters abroad will receive ballot papers with symbols well in advance.
Bangladesh has an estimated 14–15 million expatriates. “Excluding such a large population weakens inclusivity. We must begin this initiative, even if the scale is small,” Sanaullah said.
The move follows Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus’s December 16, 2024 address, where he pledged to create a system enabling expatriates to vote in the next election.
