Over 1.5 million sign up to vote by post in Bangladesh election

Election officials say almost half of those registered are living abroad

More than 1.5 million voters in Bangladesh and overseas have registered to cast their ballots by post in the upcoming parliamentary election and referendum.

Among those who signed up for postal voting ahead of the Feb 12 election, 761,140 are residing in the country, while 772,542 are expatriates, according to the Election Commission (EC).

Registration for expatriate voters opened for the first time through the "Postal Vote BD" mobile app on Nov 19. Registration within Bangladesh began after the election schedule was announced and closed at midnight on Monday.

Postal voting is open to expatriate Bangladeshis as well as election officials, government employees working outside their home constituencies and voters in custody.

The EC said most of those registered are men, with women accounting for just over 250,000 of the total. Expatriate voters registered from 123 countries, with the largest number coming from Saudi Arabia.

Among the country’s 300 parliamentary constituencies, Feni-3 recorded the highest number of postal voters, while the Cumilla district had the largest number of expatriate registrations overall.

Ballot papers will be sent to registered voters ahead of polling day. Once candidates are allocated their electoral symbols on Jan 21, voters will be able to select their preferred candidates and return their ballots by post.

Officials have warned that ballots must reach returning officers before election day in order to be counted.

The EC has also reminded voters that sharing images or videos of completed postal ballots on social media is illegal and could lead to penalties, including the suspension of national identity cards.