Finance ministry greenlights Tk40cr project to facilitate expatriate voting in Feb polls

The Ministry of Finance has allocated around Tk40 crore for a project aimed at enabling Bangladeshi expatriates to vote in the upcoming national election.

The allocation was made on 12 October after the Election Commission sought funds in September to launch the "Out of Country Voting (OCV) System Development and Implementation (SDI) Project", according to EC officials. 

The ministry approved the fund request and issued a formal letter to the EC in this regard.

Infographics: TBS

Officials said though the funds were sought in early September, the ministry approval came following the interim government's decision later in the month to grant voting rights to non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) in the upcoming election – a long-standing demand among the diaspora community.

As per the Election Commission's plan, initially, it will launch expatriate voting activities on a trial basis in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

In the first phase, voting booths will be set up at Bangladesh embassies in those countries. Expatriates will register online in advance, and on the voting day, they will be able to cast their ballots after verifying their passports and National ID cards.

According to the commission, nearly 13 crore National ID cards have been issued in Bangladesh so far, but there is no updated database showing how many cardholders currently live abroad or in which countries.

On its website, the EC notes that while granting voting rights to expatriates has long been a demand, it has not yet been effectively implemented. The only available method, postal ballot voting, has proven unworkable because of time constraints, with no record of votes being successfully cast from abroad.

Officials said the Election System Reform Commission has proposed two methods for enabling expatriate Bangladeshis to vote – a technology-assisted postal voting system and an online internet voting system. After reviewing the proposals, the Election Commission also decided to include the proxy voting system in its discussions.

NID services expanded abroad

Speaking to reporters on 14 October at the Election Commission office in Agargaon, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said NID services have already been launched in 11 countries, and preparations are underway to expand them to eight more before the next election.

He said a registration app for expatriates has been developed and will be launched by late October or early November. "NID registration is ongoing in New York and Washington, and it will soon start in Miami and Los Angeles as well," he added.

The EC is also preparing to send technical teams to Oman, South Africa, the Maldives, and Jordan. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has granted approval for similar initiatives in Bahrain, Singapore, France, and Spain.

Recently, Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah held an online discussion with the Bangladesh High Commission in London and members of the Bangladeshi diaspora in the UK on the out-of-country voting process.

He said, "This time, the government will spend Tk700 per expatriate voter. Although registration and turnout through postal ballots are low, we are proceeding with this system on reasonable grounds. However, expectations must remain modest."

Sanaullah clarified that expatriates themselves will not be required to pay any fees to participate.

Citing global experiences, he said the registration rate for postal voting among expatriates is only 2.7%, with less than 30% of them actually voting. "In India, out of 4 crore expatriates, only 119,000 registered, and just 2,900 cast their votes in the last election," he said.

What are the major challenges

During the online discussion, Commissioner Sanaullah highlighted various challenges in the process of registering and enabling expatriates to vote.

He said the global wastage rate for postal ballots is around 24%, meaning one in every four ballots sent never reaches its destination.

"One reason is that voters often provide inaccurate mailing addresses during registration. In other cases, they receive the ballot but fail to return it in time for it to be counted," he said.

He identified two main challenges for Bangladesh: maintaining ballot secrecy and ensuring timely return of votes. "We must ensure that voters cast their ballots independently without influence, and we will also ask them to sign a declaration pledging not to disclose how they voted," he said.

The second challenge, he added, arises when a candidate list changes after voting has already begun overseas. "If a court order changes a candidate in a particular constituency after ballots have been sent, all votes from abroad for that seat will be invalidated."

The Election Commission is expected to announce the poll schedule in December, with the general election likely to be held in the first half of February, before the start of Ramadan.