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With expatriate Bangladeshis set to vote for the first time in the upcoming parliamentary election, the Election Commission (EC) is planning to start dispatching postal ballot papers to those registered abroad next week.
Two ballot papers will be sent to overseas voters. The EC has asked them to cast their votes and return the envelope via a nearby post box.
Like the registration, a deadline will be set for posting the return envelope, EC officials said.
They added that all materials will go to the polling centres the day before the vote. The postal ballots must reach the country by a specific time before that. This is because if it arrives after the vote, there is no opportunity for counting.
Saleem Ahmad Khan, the team leader of the Out of Country Voting (OCV) System Development & Implementation (SDI) project, told bdnews24.com that the deadline for returning ballots may be set until the first week of February. It might be extended by a day or two.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin announced the schedule for the 13th parliamentary election and the referendum on the implementation of the July Charter, setting the polling day for Feb 12 of next year.
According to the schedule, nomination papers for the parliamentary election can be submitted from Dec 12 to 29, and the scrutiny will take place from Dec 30 to Jan 4.
The last date for withdrawal of candidacy is Jan 20. Polling will be held three weeks after that.
Symbol allocation will be done on Jan 21 after the withdrawal of candidature. In this case, 18 days have been given for submitting nomination papers and 20 days for campaigning.
Election Commission officials say postal ballots are expected to be dispatched to registered overseas voters by around Dec 18.
EC officials say the ballot papers should be mailed to registered expatriates around Dec 18 in this scenario.
Bringing up the topic of postal voting while announcing the schedule, CEC Nasir Uddin said: “The almost defunct postal voting system is being reformed and given an effective form in this election. In particular, our remittance fighters, who are a driving force of Bangladesh, are being brought under the voting system for the first time.
“Similarly, voters in legal custody are being brought under the voting system for the first time. Government employees working outside their electoral area and people involved in conducting the election will vote through postal ballots this time.”
As of Friday evening, more than 300,000 expatriate voters have registered to exercise their franchise through the “Postal Vote BD” app.
The app was inaugurated on Nov 18. Expatriate Bangladeshi voters were allowed to register until Dec 25 the next day.
Except for the boat symbol, the ballot will feature 118 symbols, combining all registered parties and independent candidates. There will also be a “no” vote option on the ballot paper.
Voters using the postal ballot will mark with a “tick” after viewing the constituency-wise candidate list, names, and symbols online.