EC warns against political campaigning on postal ballot envelopes

The Election Commission (EC) has completed the process of sending postal ballots to 767,028 expatriate voters across 121 countries for the 13th national parliamentary election and referendum, scheduled for 12 February. 

The commission has issued a stern warning stating that conducting political campaigning by writing on the postal ballot envelopes is a legally punishable offense. 

The EC cautioned that individuals found violating this regulation may face legal action, including the blocking of their National Identity (NID) cards.

Saleem Ahmad Khan, the team leader of the 'OCV-SDI' project, regarding expatriate voter registration, shared this information today. 

In a message, the EC urged all voters who registered via the 'Postal Vote BD' app to collect their own ballot papers and maintain strict secrecy by avoiding the assistance of others during the process. 

The distribution of postal ballots to overseas voters began on 20 December and was finalized on Thursday(8 January). 

Following the allocation of election symbols on 21 January, expatriates are expected to cast their votes and promptly mail the ballot papers to the addresses of their respective returning officers. 

Regarding domestic voting, EC officials confirmed that 761,141 voters have registered under the 'In-Country Postal Vote' category. The process of sending ballots to these internal voters will commence on 21  January after symbols are assigned. 

The EC estimates that the entire process of distributing and receiving these internal ballots will take approximately seven days.

According to EC data, a total of 15,33,683 voters registered for postal balloting through the 'Postal Vote BD' app. This figure includes 7,72,542 expatriate voters and 7,61,141 internal voters.