Bangladesh sets motion for general elections with maiden overseas postal voting

- Election commission aims to target 5 million votes cast through postal ballots, official says

DHAKA, Bangladesh

Bangladesh has begun sending postal ballots to voters in 148 countries, allowing expatriates to take part in national elections for the first time as the country prepares for a Feb. 12 general election under an interim administration.

The move enables overseas Bangladeshis to exercise their voting rights following years of demands for absentee participation. The election will be held under the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus after a mass uprising forced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India on Aug. 5, 2024.

To facilitate participation by migrant voters, the election commission last year launched a mobile application through which expatriates could register to receive postal voting instructions and materials. Registration was open for about two months and closed on Jan. 5.

A total of 772,542 Bangladeshi voters living abroad have registered, said Salim Ahmad Khan, an official overseeing overseas voter registration.

Khan told Anadolu that voting by mail will begin after the election commission allocates election symbols to candidates on Jan. 22.

While there was no confirmed official figure about the number of Bangladeshi expatriates worldwide, the estimates range from 12 million to 15 million, said Khan.

The election commission “primarily aims to target five million” expatriate votes through the postal ballot system, Khan said.

Migrants seen as key economic pillar

Kazi Mohammad Mahbobor Rahman, a professor of political science at the University of Dhaka, told Anadolu that the interim government had addressed a longstanding demand of Bangladeshi migrant workers, describing them as a “key economic pillar” of the country, whose gross domestic product stands at around $462 billion.

Bangladesh received a record $32.8 billion in remittances last year, an all-time annual high during Yunus’ administration, as the South Asian nation’s economy grew at about 4.5% despite political unease.

While noting concerns over possible delays in postal voting due to long distances, Rahman said the system “remains the most convenient system among the other available options across the world, including in the US.”

He added that in the event of a close contest, migrant votes “could be a decisive factor.”

More than 127.7 million voters are registered to cast ballots in the upcoming general election, up from 119.6 million in 2024, according to official figures.