Around half a lakh Bangladeshi expatriates from various countries have applied to become voters, with the highest number of applications coming from the United Arab Emirates.
Election Commission (EC) officials said the process of registering expatriates as voters is currently underway in nine countries.
As of 6 August, a total of 49,574 people had applied, of whom 29,763 have completed registration by submitting their fingerprints.
A total of 21,971 applications have been verified and approved, and those individuals are now registered voters. Another 18,034 applications have been uploaded to the server, while 3,937 more are awaiting upload.
Meanwhile, 3,937 applications have been rejected due to incomplete information and other reasons.
UAE Tops, Australia at the Bottom in Applications
The largest number of applications came from Bangladeshi expatriates in the United Arab Emirates, with 20,209 applications submitted. The fewest applications were from Australia, with 25. The UAE also recorded the highest number of rejected applications—2,169—while Australia had the lowest, with just one rejection.
It is known that the Election Commission, after collecting information from the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare, the Bureau of Manpower, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), and other organisations, has identified 40 countries with significant Bangladeshi populations. The initiative is being carried forward with these countries in mind.
The countries are: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Libya, Sudan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, United Kingdom, Italy, Hong Kong, Egypt, Brunei, Mauritius, Iraq, United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Greece, Spain, Germany, South Africa, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Maldives, New Zealand, Russia, Turkey, and Cyprus. These countries together have 14,046,534 Bangladeshi expatriates. The largest community is in Saudi Arabia, with 4,049,588 people, while the smallest is in New Zealand, with 2,500.
At present, the commission is conducting voter registration operations at 16 stations in nine countries through Bangladeshi embassies. These countries are the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Italy, Kuwait, Qatar, Malaysia, Australia, and Canada.
Operations to Begin in Six More Countries
Director General of the National Identity Registration Wing, ASM Humayun Kabir, told Banglanews that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has granted approval to begin voter registration in five new countries. “We have to prepare the equipment, and work is underway on that,” he said.
He added that preparations in Japan are nearly complete, but obtaining a public IP will take some more time. Approval has been obtained to start voter registration in Oman, South Africa, Jordan, the United States, and the Maldives.
EC officials said the current interim government has pledged to ensure voting rights for expatriates, and the commission is moving forward with overseas voter registration to achieve that goal.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin has already said that his commission wants to at least initiate the process, aiming to create an opportunity—however limited—for expatriates to vote in the upcoming election. He stated that, like the interim government, the EC is committed to enabling overseas Bangladeshis to cast their ballots. “Whatever method we proceed with for expatriate voting, it must start with a pilot phase, then be implemented on a limited scale, before moving to a broader scope,” the CEC said.
As part of this plan, the commission is working not only to expand voter registration but also to determine the voting method for expatriates. In this regard, postal ballots will be used. These ballots will not have candidate names, only electoral symbols. However, voters who complete online registration will be able to see the list of candidates.
Election Commissioner Abul Fazl Md Sanaullah said: “Symbol ballots will be sent to expatriates to save time. After candidates are finalised, they will cast their vote on the symbol ballot. The postal service will collect the ballots from the EC. Expatriate voters must register online at least three weeks before election day. Once candidacies are finalised, they can view the list online, then vote for their preferred candidate by marking the corresponding symbol on the ballot.”
Explaining why the ballots will carry only symbols, he said: “Even to the nearest country, sending ballot papers will take 18 days, and to the farthest, 28 days. If candidate names were included, there would not be enough time to print and send them after candidacies are finalised. For postal ballots, election publicity and voter education will start from September.”
He added that if a candidate changes at the last moment due to a court order, postal voting will not take place in that constituency. Measures could be taken to expedite legal processes in such cases.
According to Sanaullah, the process will be costly. “The transport cost per ballot will be Tk 500, in addition to printing expenses. A Tk 48 crore project will be undertaken for the registration process. For every 100,000 voters, the total cost will be Tk 6–7 lakh,” he said.
Four Mandatory Documents for Expatriates
To become a voter from abroad, applicants must submit a completed online application form (Form-2A), a valid Bangladeshi passport, an online birth registration certificate, and a passport-sized colour photograph to the relevant registration centre.
For citizens from 56 special upazilas/thanas (Chattogram region) [with specific data], a “special information form” must also be completed, along with a copy of their educational certificate, parents’ NID (or death certificate if deceased), driving licence/TIN (if applicable), dual citizenship certificate (if applicable), marriage certificate and spouse’s NID (if applicable), citizenship certificate (issued by councillor/chairman/mayor/CEO), and a copy of a utility bill for the voter’s address (electricity/water/gas). Tenants must also submit a copy of their rental agreement and a no-objection certificate from the landlord.
Optional documents not submitted abroad may be sent to the relevant upazila officer in Bangladesh through a local relative.
Following instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office, the commission led by KM Nurul Huda launched the overseas NID programme in 2019. On 12 February 2020, the EC began registering UK-based expatriates online. Earlier, on 18 November 2019, the process had started for Bangladeshi expatriates in the UAE, and on 5 November 2019, online applications for NID and inclusion in the voter list had begun for Bangladeshis in Malaysia. Later, opportunities were extended to those in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the Maldives.
However, the plan to start the service through embassies was halted by the Covid-19 pandemic. After taking office in 2022, the commission led by Kazi Habibul Awal revived the programme, discarding previous applications and starting afresh. The current Nasir-led commission is continuing this initiative.
