More than 18,000 expatriate Bangladeshis from 53 countries have registered through a mobile app titled ‘Postal Vote Bd’ to vote in the 13th parliamentary election, likely to be held in early February 2026.
As of 8:45 pm on Sunday, a total of 18,374 expatriates—16,765 males and 1,609 females—had registered through the app.
The registration deadline for Bangladeshi diaspora voters in 53 countries across East Asia, South America, and Africa is set to expire at midnight on Sunday.
Among the registrants, the highest number came from South Korea (7,883), followed by Japan (4,769), South Africa (2,409), China (1,312), Egypt (578), Mozambique (358), Libya (274), Mauritius (207), and Hong Kong (172).
Other countries in the initial 53-country list include Mongolia, North Korea, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Tunisia, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The Election Commission (EC) launched the Postal Vote Bd app on November 18 and opened it to expatriate voters on November 19.
The EC initially enabled registration for expatriates in 53 countries from November 19 to 23.
The app will remain open for the expats staying in 16 countries from November 24 to 28, for the Bangladeshis staying in 42 other countries from November 29 to December 03, for the Bangladeshis staying in Saudi Arabia from December 04 to 08, the expats in 18 countries from December 09 to 13, for the Bangladeshis in 14 countries from December 14 to 18.
Besides, the app will remain open for the government officials, polling personnel, prisoners under the lawful custody from December 19 to 25.
Though the postal balloting system has been in the laws for a long, but it was never practiced in the previous elections.
his is the first time the Election Commission is introducing a hybrid postal balloting system, enabling expatriates, government staff, polling personnel, and inmates to exercise their franchise through a combination of digital registration and manual voting.
The EC aims to facilitate voting for approximately 5 million expatriate Bangladeshis living in 143 countries through this IT-supported postal voting mechanism.