Over 880,000 postal ballots delivered to returning officers for general election, referendum

Each constituency will have a ballot box for every 400 postal votes

The Election Commission (EC) has confirmed that 883,387 postal ballots from both home and abroad have reached returning officers before the Feb 12 parliamentary polls and referendum.

In a media statement on Wednesday, the commission broke down the figures, noting that 766,862 ballots were dispatched to expatriates.

Out of these, 481,185 voters sent their marked ballots back to Bangladesh, with 444,436 already in the hands of returning officers.

Within the country, 760,898 ballots were sent to local voters, of which 438,951 have been returned to the authorities.

Returning officers will count all postal ballots received by 4:30pm on Feb 12.

Data from the “Postal Vote BD” app, updated as of 9:15am on Wednesday, provides a granular look at the overseas voting process.

• Ballots reached destination countries: 766,862

• Ballots received by voters: 528,579

• Votes cast: 515,619

• Ballots deposited at post offices/mailboxes abroad: 507,327

• Ballots arrived in Bangladesh: 481,185

• Ballots received by returning officers: 444,436

Domestic voters (until 9:15am on Wednesday)

• Ballots sent to voters via BD Post: 760,898

• Ballots received by voters: 610,650

• Votes cast: 580,665

• Ballots deposited at post offices/mailboxes: 561,139

• Ballots received by returning officers: 438,951

The national election and referendum will take place on Thursday, with one ballot box allocated per 400 postal votes in each constituency.