Home
+
Published : 19 Mar 2025, 02:40 AM
The number is not insignificant; while Bangladesh has 123 million voters, the number of expatriate voters stands at more than 10 million.
Experts and analysts perceive the proxy voting system, something the authorities are pondering now to create an opportunity for expatriates to vote, as quite risky.
With the next general election, the AMM Nasir Uddin-led Election Commission (EC) has become active in launching the proxy voting system to ensure the voting rights of overseas Bangladeshis.
The commission says that if the expatriates' expectations are to be met as the chief advisor has suggested, proxy voting is the only way forward.
To finalise that system, a workshop has been planned with the experts and technical teams in the first half of April.
Then the authorities will seek the opinion of the civil society and political parties.
The EC wants to finalise the issue in the next eight to nine months including amendment of law, and app development after it gets the nod from the stakeholders.
Proxy vote means a person will get their ballot cast by their nominee.
So, an expatriate will shift their voting right to another person for a specific election.
The EC, however, admitted the process had some risks. The experts too, suggested to remain alert that proxy voting is not “misused”.
Md Abdur Razzaque, chairman of Dhaka University's computer science and engineering department, told bdnews24.com: "It's a great initiative to make the expatriates voters. But a limit should be set on who can become the proxy."
Md Mostafa Akbar, a professor of the computer science and engineering department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), postal voting could be a viable option to some extent.
There is, however, a risk of misuse with online and proxy voting.
HOW PROXY VOTING WILL WORK
The authorities initially considered three methods for expatriates to cast their votes.
These are: 1. Postal voting 2. Online voting and 3. Proxy voting.
According to Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah, postal ballots became “obsolete”.
Online voting also has some “complications”.
Among the three systems, the EC will seek the opinion of the experts about proxy voting at the beginning of April.
"Then we'll consult the political parties and other stakeholders. If we get the affirmation of everyone and can develop the system, we'll introduce proxy voting at a small scale in the 13th parliamentary election,” said the election commissioner.
Under the system, expatriates who want to cast their votes have to register at an app using the facial recognition feature.
Then they have to express their interest to vote through pre-registration.
The expatriates must provide the NID and other details of their proxy voters while registering.
The proxy voter can cast their own ballots as well. This will be more like “power of attorney”.
Sanaullah said, "expatriates can register while staying abroad and nominate one person (from their constituency) to be the proxy voter on their behalf."
Once the registration is complete, the EC will inform who can be the proxy voters. There will be no need for a separate voter list.
• More than 13 million Bangladeshi nationals live abroad and around 10 million of them are eligible to be voters.
• To cast their votes, an expatriate must be listed as a voter.
• Registration should be done using the NID number.
• They have to go to the app and select “proxy voter”.
• Registration can be done from anywhere around the world.
TRUST OR NOT
Election analyst Abdul Aleem, a member of the Electoral System Reform Commission, believes that ensuring a proxy voter casts the ballot for the expatriate's chosen candidate is the biggest challenge.
He said "Suppose, I appoint someone as my proxy. There is no guarantee they will vote as per my choice. In our country, if one family member supports political party X, the other member supports Y.
"Now, the person who supports X party appoints their brother who is a supporter of Y party or another family member. Maybe the proxy voter would cast the vote for the Y party. This is the biggest problem."
RISK
Prof Razzaque has “no doubt” about the voting rights of the expatriates, who make a significant contribution to the foreign reserve in the country.
He, however, has questions on how to ensure their right to vote.
Razzaque said, “First, we heard that they'll directly vote online while staying abroad. This is a process but it has a lot of risk factors.
“We must look at cyber security and loopholes should be addressed."
Risks will be there even if the authorities decide to go for proxy voting instead of online, he believes.
"This proxy voting system should be fair. A person must be able to choose their proxy independently. That must be ensured,” he said.
According to him, there must be no scope for third-party interference in the process.
Prof Razzaque said, "No external entity should be able to dictate that a certain group of 50 people will serve as proxies. We will provide the technical support to ensure this.
“In addition, all backdoors that could enable external manipulation must be closed through an implemented technical support system."
WHO CAN BE A PROXY?
Razzaque believes that there should be a clear criterion for who can serve as a proxy voter.
“Suppose, I’m a native of Dhaka and a voter of Ramna Constituency. Now, I’m choosing one of my acquaintances or even an unknown person from Rangamati to be my proxy voter. What’s the basis for that? A limit should be set for that.”
He suggested the EC proceed after determining who could be the proxy voters and who could not.
Prof Razzaque said, “The emotional point is acceptable. But we must choose the implementation policy in light of the reality. The technical committee who will work behind it should maintain the matter devoid of any interference.”
‘ELECTION RESULT MUST NOT BE INFLUENCED’
Razzaque is also worried about the large number of 10 to 15 million expatriate voters.
“Ten million voters is a large number; this population has the capacity to change the [election result]. Hence, we should move forward after maintaining the process properly," he said.
That is the Dhaka University professor wants a scrutiny system before the proxy voters can go to the poll centres.
Proxy voting should be launched at a small scale, he said. “Time is limited, but if the right resources are deployed and the system is not fully opened up at first, starting on a controlled scale could be a practical approach.”
“We should do only as much as we feel safe, secure, and implementable. Because we need to move forward in pace with reality. This is technically viable.”
‘DEFENDERS SHOULD NOT BE ATTACKERS’
Prof Razzaque said, “As a student and teacher of computer science, I can say that online systems [of voting] will have several anomalies. I shouldn’t say this directly but in Bangladesh, defenders become attackers at every step.
“This is visible in every sector. Hence, we have to proceed with care.”
He said the technical team for implementation should be involved everywhere. Continuous monitoring should be ensured.
“Implementation of security, privacy and database administration should be proper. There should be comprehensive teams, accountability, and an experienced workforce should be engaged.”
‘FEAR OF ‘MISUSE’
BUET Professor Mostofa does not believe that proxy voting is a viable option in Bangladesh’s context.
"I am not convinced that the person I appoint as my proxy will cast the vote as per my choice," he said.
The professor was doubtful about proper use of the proxy voting rights. “I think the expatriate voting is a debatable issue.”
Explaining the issue, the professor said those staying abroad for more than three to four years, may not have the real picture of what happens in the country.
“Maybe they would decide to vote for someone. They would decide without knowing the real picture. It’s difficult to realise it from outside and normal when they live in the country,” Mostofa said.
Criticising the proxy voting system, he said: “This shouldn’t be done. I find it absurd. Rather I think using postal ballots is reasonable.
“I believe that in-person voting is the best option—expatriates can cast their votes after returning home and assessing the situation firsthand. But online and proxy voting are prone to misuse."
THE CHALLENGE
Election Commissioner Sanaullah has said the globally accepted system required for online voting is not currently available to the EC.
In addition, the postal ballot system has become "ineffective."
The current EC does not have the globally accepted online voting system, and the postal ballot became “obsolete”, he said.
“So, we have to revise the new system and hope to be successful on this.”
The commissioner was asked how the voting secrecy will be maintained. “We’ve discussed a lot on this. You have to trust someone. We had debate on this.
He continued, “Suppose, I’m an expat. Now I’m asking my brother or friend to vote for me. I tell them to vote for a certain symbol. They go but do not stamp the symbol of my choice. This risk is always there,” he said in reply.
The election commissioner emphasised that an expatriate must appoint a proxy whom they trust completely.
The EC initially thought to impose a condition for the proxy voter to be a close relative. However, it shifted the idea and left the choice to the expatriate.
“As of now, we proposed that it would be the person’s choice. If we ask for a close relative, the option will be limited. We have to define the close relative as well. Hence, we want the expatriate voter to choose the person they want to delegate their voting right,” Sanaullah said.
[Writing in English by Sabrina Karim Murshed]
