Staff Reporter:
A total of 80.11% of registered voters cast their ballots through the postal voting system in the referendum and the 13th National Parliamentary Election, the Election Commission (EC) said.
Of the total registered postal voters, 70.25% of votes were declared valid, according to EC officials on Thursday night.
EC sources said that 767,233 expatriates registered from abroad to vote by postal ballot this year. In addition, 760,898 voters — including government employees, members of law enforcement agencies, and prisoners — registered within the country.
In total, 1,528,131 voters registered for postal voting through the BD App.
Among those registered, 544,372 expatriates cast their votes from abroad, while 679,816 voters cast their ballots from within the country. Altogether, 1,224,188 postal votes were cast, representing 80.11% of total registrations.
Of these, returning officers received 498,204 ballots sent from abroad and 668,388 ballots sent from within the country. In total, 1,165,592 ballots reached returning officers, accounting for 76.28% of total registered postal voters.
Among the ballots received, 471,973 votes from abroad and 601,524 votes from within the country were declared valid. Altogether, 1,073,497 ballots were deemed valid, representing 70.25% of total registrations.
The EC said postal ballots received until 4:30pm on Thursday were accepted. The commission had earlier stated that some ballots were invalidated due to missing voter signatures, failure to attach required declarations, and non-compliance with prescribed procedures.
