TDS Desk:

Voter registration for Bangladeshi expatriates living in 16 countries including the United States, Canada and Australia, began on Monday.

Registration can be completed through the “Postal Vote BD” mobile app.

The process will continue until November 28, said a PID handout.

The other countries include New Zealand, Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Honduras, Haiti, and Nicaragua, Guatemala the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and the Bahamas.

According to the Election Commission, voter registration for Bangladeshi expatriates residing in East Asia, South America and Africa will also remain open until November 28.

This is the first time the Election Commission has introduced postal balloting for Bangladeshi expatriates.

The Election Commission opened a help desk to provide round-the-clock support during registration through the Postal Vote app.

Those who want to register can call through WhatsApp and Imo numbers. These are–+8801335149920, +8801335149923–32, +8801777770562; and the Botim numbers are: +8801335149927, +8801335149929–30, +8801777770562.

The ‘Postal Vote BD’ mobile app was unveiled on November 18 through a ceremony at the Nirbachan Bhaban auditorium in the capital.

According to EC officials, 7-8 percent of the country’s voters are staying abroad.

The Election Commission has targeted some 50 lakh expatriate voters from 143 countries.

The EC has a plan to start sending postal ballots with all listed symbols to different destinations soon after the announcement of the election schedule.

Expatriate voters can cast their vote after the allocation of electoral symbols and drop their ballot at their nearby post office to send it back to the returning officer concerned by Election Day.