RO offices prepare to receive postal ballots for election, referendum

Returning officers' offices are making preparations to receive postal ballot papers as ballots from expatriate voters begin arriving for the 13th parliamentary election and the referendum.

Under the arrangements, one ballot box is being kept for every 400 postal ballots in each constituency.

On polling day, 12 February, postal ballots that reach the returning officer's office by 4:30pm will be counted.

The returning officers of Dhaka-13 and Dhaka-15 locked transparent postal ballot boxes today (25 January) in the presence of representatives of contesting candidates and designated separate rooms to receive the ballots.

Returning Officer Md Yunus Ali told reporters after locking the ballot boxes at the Election Training Institute in Agargaon that arrangements had been made this year for both Out of Country Voting (OCV) and In Country Postal Voting (ICPV).

"Separate rooms have been set up at the returning officer's office to keep the postal ballots," he said. "There are 24 ballot boxes in the postal voting room for the Dhaka-13 constituency, including reserve boxes."

A total of 5,617 voters have registered for postal voting in Dhaka-13, while 7,405 voters have registered in Dhaka-15.

Md Yunus Ali said rival candidates had been invited and all procedures, including sealing the boxes, were carried out in their presence.

"The final mail from the postal department will arrive on 12 February. As per the rules, ballots will be processed using barcode machines and QR code scanning, digitally saved on laptops, and then placed in the ballot boxes," he added.

According to the returning officer, overall security has been ensured, including documentation of ballot box and lock numbers. Each room will remain under round-the-clock police security.

"Ballots that arrive by 4:30pm on 12 February will be placed in the boxes. Any ballots arriving after that time will not be put into the boxes and will be kept separately as invalid ballots, in line with election rules," he said.

Additional Regional Election Officer AHM Kamrul Hasan said postal ballots received regularly from the postal department would be scanned, checked, entered into the register and then placed in the boxes.

"At the time of counting, representatives will be present as per the notice. Everything will be cross-checked before counting begins," he said.

For the upcoming 13th parliamentary election and referendum, a total of 1,533,682 voters at home and abroad have registered to vote by postal ballot. The registration window closed at midnight on 5 January through the "Postal Vote BD" app.

Bangladeshi voters living abroad are registered under OCV, while those staying within the country are registered under ICPV.

In addition to expatriate voters, election duty officials, government employees working outside their home areas, and voters in legal custody (prison) were also eligible to register through the "Postal Vote BD" app.