Staff Reporter:
The registration process for expatriate voters in seven countries including Saudi Arabia has been resumed through the ‘Postal Vote BD’ mobile app to vote through postal ballot in the 13th National Parliament Election and Referendum.
EC Secretariat Director (Public Relations) and Information Officer Md. Ruhul Amin Mallick announced the registration process for expatriate voters yesterday.
He said, “The registration process for expatriate voters in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qa-tar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Malaysia through the ‘Postal Vote BD’ mobile app has been resumed from 3:15 pm yesterday.”
He said, “To receive postal ballots by post, expatriates will have to provide the correct address in their respective countries. If necessary, it is specially requested to use the address of a friend/relative or the address of a nearby well-known institution/building.”
Earlier on Thursday, EC Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed and OCV and SDI Project Team Leader Brigadier General (Retd) Salim Ahmad Khan told reporters that expatriate voters from seven countries including Saudi Arabia are unable to input their addresses correctly. For the ballot paper to reach them, the address must be given in English and with the full post code, they added.
They said many were giving incorrect or incomplete information in the mandatory fields. Therefore, the registration process has been temporarily suspended. “Measures are being taken so that expatriate voters can register quickly. We are trying to re-launch the app,” they said.
Replying to a query on whether the registration period will be extended, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said, “Currently, 21 days is enough. Registration will continue till December 18. We are taking measures to ensure that not a single voter is left out. After that, preparations will be made for printing the ballot paper and handing it over to the postal department.”
According to the EC, 95,450 expatriates have completed their registration through the ‘Postal Vote BD’ app till 4:45 pm on Sunday. For the first time, expatriate Bangladeshis residing abroad will get the op-portunity to vote through postal ballots in the 13th National Parliament Election and Referendum.
Once the registration and address are confirmed, the ballot of every expatriate will reach Bangladesh, which is being considered an important step in the country’s electoral history.
