Registrations through the postal voting system for the 13th national parliamentary election and referendum have exceeded 800,000, the Election Commission (EC) has said.
As of 2:15pm on Saturday, a total of 800,872 voters had registered through the “Postal Vote BD” app, according to EC data published on its website. Of them, 728,617 are male and 72,253 female. Registrations include expatriate Bangladeshis, election duty officials and employees, and government servants residing outside their constituencies.
Among expatriates, Saudi Arabia recorded the highest number of registrations with 162,993 voters, followed by Qatar (59,582), Oman (46,143), Malaysia (43,829), the United Arab Emirates (30,874), and the United States (26,073).
Within Bangladesh, 244,661 voters registered under the in-country postal voting category. District-wise, Comilla led with 71,143 registrations, followed by Dhaka (63,595), Chittagong (61,703), Noakhali (40,741), Sylhet (30,089), and Chandpur (28,315).
By constituency, Feni-3 recorded the highest number of registered postal voters at 11,793, followed by Chittagong-15 (9,811), Cumilla-10 (9,466), and Noakhali-1 (9,365).
The EC said expatriate voters, government employees, election duty personnel, and voters in legal custody will be able to register through the app until December 31, following an extension approved on Wednesday. Launched on November 18, the Postal Vote BD app allows expatriate Bangladeshis from 148 countries to register, though voters must use a mobile number from their country of residence.
Meanwhile, BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman on Saturday completed formalities for voter registration and obtaining a National Identity Card (NID). He arrived at the Election Training Institute (ETI) building in Agargaon around 1pm, where his fingerprints, iris scans, and biometric information were collected.
According to NID Wing Director General ASM Humayun Kabir, Tarique Rahman’s NID is expected to be issued within one day of completing the biometric process. Under election law, candidates must be registered voters to contest parliamentary elections, and being enrolled as a voter in any constituency fulfils this requirement.
The deadline for nomination paper collection and submission for the February 12 national election is December 29. BNP sources said nomination papers have already been collected on behalf of Tarique Rahman for the Bogra-6 constituency.
