FE REPORT
A total of 1,533,682 Bangladeshis, both from home and abroad, have registered for postal voting for the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election and the referendum, scheduled for February 12.
Of the total, 761,140 voters reside in Bangladesh. They are unable to cast their votes in person, mainly due to their involvement in electoral activities.
The figure includes 575,200 government employees, 169,642 election officials, 10,010 Ansar and VDP members and 6,283 prisoners.
On the other hand, among expatriate Bangladeshis living in Saudi Arabia recorded the highest number of registrations, with 239,186 voters opting for postal ballots. Malaysia ranked second with 84,292 registered voters, followed by Qatar with 76,139 registrations.
The deadline of registration through the information technology (IT) supported postal voting system ended on Monday.
The Election Commission had earlier extended the registration deadline to facilitate wider participation of eligible voters at home and abroad.
According to EC officials, after the allocation of symbols on January 21, registered voters will be able to vote for the candidates of their choice in their respective constituencies. After receiving the paper ballots sent by the EC, the remote voters will cast their votes by checking the list of candidates, names and symbols. The ballots must reach to the returning officer before February 12.
The Election Commission has urged to protect the privacy of the vote saying that sharing pictures or videos of postal ballots on social media after voting is a punishable offence, for which the National Identity Card (NID) may be suspended.
Meanwhilwe, Election Commission (EC) received 122 more appeals seeking to overturn the cancellation of candidatures in the 13th National Parliament election.
With the latest filings, the total number of appeals reached 164.
The EC announced this on Tuesday evening after completing the second day of appeal submissions
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