Postal ballots must reach ROs by 4:30pm on polling day: EC

The Election Commission yesterday said postal ballots for the national elections and referendum will be counted only if they reach the returning officer by 4:30pm on polling day, February 12.

“Postal Vote BD registered voters should cast their ballots promptly and submit the yellow envelope at the nearest post office or mailbox,” said Brigadier General Saleem Ahmad Khan, head of the EC’s Out of Country Voting System Development and Implementation Initiative.

Postal voting for expatriates, government officials on election duty and people in lawful custody opened at 5:00pm on January 21.

Bangladesh currently has 12.76 crore registered voters. Of them, 1,533,683 voters -- 1,281,435 men and 252,246 women -- have registered through the Postal Vote BD app.

Ahead of the twin polls, the EC has dispatched 7,28,023 postal ballots to voters in 122 countries.

Voters will receive ballot papers bearing electoral symbols and will be able to cast their votes by email.

According to EC data, Saudi Arabia recorded the highest number of registrations at 2,39,186.

District-wise, Cumilla topped the list with 1,12,090 registered overseas voters, followed by Dhaka with 1,08,757.

In addition to expatriates, 7,61,141 voters, comprising officials engaged in election duties and people in lawful custody, have registered under the Postal Vote BD system.

Among them, 6,285 registrants are in legal custody.

While postal voting has been part of Bangladesh’s electoral process since 1972, this is the first time the EC has introduced an IT-supported online postal voting system.

The commission said expatriate voters will not be charged, although the cost per ballot under the Postal Vote BD system is Tk 700.