Over 21,000 Expatriate Ballots Return to Bangladesh Ahead of National Election

A significant number of postal ballots cast by Bangladeshi expatriate voters have already been returned to Bangladesh as part of preparations for the upcoming 13th National Parliamentary Election and simultaneous referendum.

According to officials overseeing the expatriate voting process, 21,508 postal ballots submitted from overseas have arrived in Bangladesh, marking a key milestone in the Postal Vote BD initiative.

The ballots were sent back through international postal systems by registered expatriate voters who took part in the overseas voting process.

The Postal Vote BD mobile app, launched by the Election Commission, has enabled hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis living abroad to participate in the electoral process.

As of the latest update, ballots were dispatched to the registered addresses of 766,862 expatriate voters, and nearly 493,920 of those voters have already received their voting papers.

A large number of expatriate citizens — over 425,000 — have already cast their votes by returning their postal ballots via mail in their respective countries.

Many of these ballots have been deposited at local post offices or ballot drop‑off points abroad, while the returned ballots continue to reach Bangladesh ahead of the 12 February election deadline.

Election officials are working to ensure that all returned ballots are received by the respective Returning Officers before the cutoff time, after which they will be verified and counted as part of the official election process.

The steady arrival of returned ballots underscores the active participation of expatriate Bangladeshis in the democratic process, facilitated by digital registration and postal voting mechanisms.

The Election Commission has encouraged all expatriate voters to complete and send back their ballots as soon as possible to ensure their votes are counted in the upcoming polls.