More than 21 thousand postal ballots cast by expatriate Bangladeshis have arrived in the country ahead of the February 12 election, with over 4 lakh 25 thousand expatriates having voted so far.

Salim Ahmad Khan, Team Leader of the Election Commission's OCV-SDI project, told media that as of 10:30 am on Tuesday, a total of 21 thousand 508 postal ballots had been returned to Bangladesh.

Among 4 lakh 25 thousand 788 expatriates who have voted, 3 lakh 70 thousand 322 have already submitted their ballots at post offices or mailboxes in their respective countries after casting their votes.

Election Commission sent postal ballots to a total of 7 lakh 66 thousand 862 expatriates for the upcoming election. By Tuesday morning, 4 lakh 93 thousand 920 expatriates had received their postal ballots.

Commission has requested expatriate voters to cast their votes as soon as possible and submit the ballots at the nearest post office. Only those ballots that reach the returning officer by 4:30 pm on polling day in Bangladesh will be included in the vote count.

This time, a total of 15 lakh 33 thousand voters registered to vote through the postal ballot system from both home and abroad, with more than half being expatriates.

Along with expatriate Bangladeshi voters, three categories of voters inside the country have also registered through the ‘Postal Vote BD’ app. These include election duty officials, government employees working outside their own constituencies, and voters who are in legal custody, all of whom are allowed to vote through postal ballots.