EC bars expatriates from voting in local govt elections
Graphics: Agamir Somoy
Expatriate Bangladeshi voters will not have the opportunity to vote by mail or via postal ballot in the upcoming local government elections.
The decision to exclude this provision from the election rules and code of conduct drafted by the Election Commission (EC) has been finalized.
However, this decision has already raised questions among political parties, expatriates, and organizations. They argued that expatriate Bangladeshis were granted the opportunity to vote by postal ballot in the national parliamentary elections, and there is no logic in excluding the same citizens from that right in local government elections.
The legal provision for expatriate voters to vote by postal ballot in national parliamentary elections exists in the Representation of the People Order (RPO). In the 13th parliamentary election, expatriates voted through an IT-supported postal ballot system for the first time.
According to the EC, a registration system for postal voting was also created for Bangladeshi voters residing abroad. There were 15,20,093 postal voters. Among them, 10,63,874 voters cast their votes, while 57,898 votes were canceled.
A major portion of the cast votes went to candidates of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami. Combined, the BNP and Jamaat received 8,10,258 votes, accounting for 76.16 percent of the cast votes. Jamaat-e-Islami received 4,88,114 votes, or 45.88 percent, the BNP received 3,22,144 votes, or 30.28 percent and the National Citizen Party (NCP) received 52,840 votes.
Jamaat and the NCP are questioning the decision not to allow postal voting for expatriates in local government elections. However, the EC argued that sending ballots to overseas voters, returning them, verifying them, and including them in the tally within the specified timeframe is complex and expensive.
Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud said, “No new system has been kept for expatriates to vote. There will be no opportunity to vote by mail in local government elections either.”
Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and Opposition Leader Shafiqur Rahman demanded that the voting rights of expatriates be ensured in local government elections. Whether a citizen lives in the country or abroad, if they are a registered voter, their right to vote must be ensured.
He added that taking any initiative to deprive expatriates of their voting rights would be oppression and injustice.
Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Hamidur Rahman Azad told Agamir Somoy, “Voting rights for expatriates must remain at any cost. This is their civic right. Revoking this right after granting it once is unconstitutional. We will ask the EC to step back from such a decision.”
NCP spokesperson Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain said, “Canceling the voting rights of expatriates in local government elections is by no means a good decision. What is the EC or the government afraid of regarding expatriate voting rights?”
NCP’s Political Board Member Sarwar Tushar told Agamir Somoy that the EC must answer why expatriates can have voting rights in national elections but not in local elections. The party will officially submit a letter to the EC demanding voting rights for expatriates.
Maksudur Rahman, living in Saudi Arabia, told Agamir Somoy, “Even though we live outside the country, we are citizens of the country and voters of our respective areas. If there is an opportunity to vote by postal ballot in national elections, why should that opportunity not exist in local government elections? The EC should reconsider the matter.”
Meanwhile, “Aggrasonbirodhi Andolan” submitted a memorandum to the EC demanding that voting rights for Bangladeshi citizens living abroad be ensured in local government elections.
After submitting the memorandum to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin on 16 September, the organization’s Member Secretary Al Amin Atiya told Agamir Somoy that if the voting opportunity for expatriates is not ensured, they will seek legal recourse in court, launch a mass signature campaign, and build a nationwide democratic movement.
Bangladesh Labour Party submitted a memorandum to the EC demanding that voting rights for expatriates in local government elections be guaranteed.
On Wednesday, a seven-member delegation led by the party’s Chairman Mustafizur Rahman Iran held a meeting with CEC. Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of Citizens for Good Governance (SHUJAN), said excluding mail-in voting for expatriates in local government elections would not be appropriate, noting that they are citizens and voters of Bangladesh whose voting rights the state is responsible for ensuring.
Political expert Mahbubur Rahman told Agamir Somoy that although the complexity and cost of conducting postal voting are worth considering, excluding expatriate voters from local elections because of this is not a solution. An easy and effective postal voting system could be introduced by utilizing the experience from the national election.
