Online registration, postal voting for expatriates to cost nearly Tk48cr: EC

The Election Commission (EC) has announced that implementing online registration and postal ballot voting for expatriate Bangladeshis in the upcoming 13th National Parliamentary Election is expected to cost nearly Tk48 crore.

The policy decision was finalised at the EC’s 8th commission meeting held on Thursday, where it was also decided that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will no longer be used in any future national or local government elections.

The EC is currently working to implement a series of electoral reforms based on the recommendations of the Election System Reform Commission. These include changes to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), the Election Officials’ Special Act, candidate affidavits, the EC Secretariat Act, postal voting procedures, the discontinuation of EVMs, political party registration, voter list updates, and constituency boundary revisions.

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin presided over the meeting, which was attended by all four Election Commissioners, the EC Secretary, and other relevant officials.

Briefing the media afterwards, Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah confirmed that postal ballots will be used to enable expatriate Bangladeshis to cast their votes. He stated, “In this parliamentary election, arrangements will be made for expatriates to vote through postal ballots. Also, EVMs will no longer be used in any election.”

He explained that the EC had initially considered three options – proxy voting, online voting, and postal ballots, but ultimately decided to proceed with postal voting, supported by an IT-based system to improve reliability and efficiency.

“The final decision is that Bangladeshi expatriates will be able to vote through postal ballots. The estimated initial cost of the project is around Tk48 crore. The shortcomings of the conventional postal voting system will be addressed through technological support,” he added.

A new project will be initiated to facilitate online registration for expatriate voters. Once registered, voters will be sent postal ballots directly by the EC. After casting their votes, they must return the ballots to the Returning Officer of their respective constituencies.

Sanaullah also stated that a technical committee will review the project proposal before it is implemented under a Development Project Proposal (DPP). An alternative approach involving blank ballots is also under consideration.

“If postal ballots are sent via the postal department, the average cost per voter will be approximately Tk700. However, using private couriers could raise the cost to around Tk5,000 per voter,” he noted.

Addressing questions on the procedure, the Commissioner said, “We are developing an online registration platform with two steps – first, to become a legally recognised voter, and second, OCV (Out of Country Voting) registration to vote from abroad. Previously, expatriates had to apply in advance, but now they will be able to register directly online. That’s the key difference.”

He also clarified that while online voting is being considered for the future, it will not be implemented in the upcoming election.

“We plan to take online voting forward and may even conduct trial runs, but it won’t be ready in time for this election,” he said.