Dhaka, Bangladesh – Lengthy missed in Bangladesh’s electoral system, hundreds of thousands of expatriates – together with migrant staff who underpin the nation’s financial system – will be capable of vote in nationwide elections for the primary time, because the nation’s Election Fee strikes to lastly guarantee their participation within the democratic course of.
The Election Fee estimates that about 15 million Bangladeshi expatriates, together with migrant staff, dwell within the Gulf, Europe, the Americas and Southeast Asia – accounting for greater than 10 p.c of the nation’s whole voters.
To facilitate their participation, the Election Fee will launch postal ballots, supported by an app referred to as Postal Vote BD. That is considered one of a number of strikes to reform key state establishments, together with the electoral, judicial, and legislative methods, by Bangladesh’s interim authorities, which was fashioned after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League occasion had been toppled in a mass uprising in 2024.
The interim authorities has scheduled extremely anticipated parliamentary elections for February 2026, however specialists warn that implementing an abroad voting system will probably be removed from simple. Loads is driving on the primary elections because the fall of Hasina’s authorities: Only four of Bangladesh’s 11 elections because the nation’s independence in 1971 have been thought-about “free and truthful”.
“The method is sort of a black field – if authenticity and transparency aren’t maintained, the credibility of the complete election might be referred to as into query,” mentioned Badiul Alam Majumdar, chief of the electoral reform fee, in an interview with Al Jazeera. “It’s a posh activity that requires intensive logistical preparation. It received’t be simple, nor can or not it’s applied in all international locations inside one election cycle. However it’s important to begin someplace.”
Why couldn’t Bangladeshi expatriates vote earlier than?
Bangladesh’s structure has by no means explicitly barred expatriates from voting. Article 122 requires voters to be residents of voting age who’re registered to vote, but it surely doesn’t specify a residency requirement. Nevertheless, a 1982 ordinance added that voters should “ordinarily reside” of their constituency.
That ordinance was finally repealed with the introduction of the Electoral Rolls Act 2009, which got here into drive in January 2009 and stays the present regulation. The Act recognises Bangladeshi residents residing overseas as residents of the constituency the place they final lived or the place their very own or ancestral house is positioned.
Nevertheless, whereas expats lastly had the suitable to vote, they didn’t have the means to take action. No steps had been taken to allow expatriates to truly vote.
“Previous elections grew to become a farce – there was no real intention to incorporate them,” mentioned Majumdar.
Following Hasina’s removing, the nation’s reform commission has thought-about numerous strategies to allow expatriate voting, in the end deciding on postal ballots supported by a cellular app.
How will expat voting work?
The Postal Vote BD app, scheduled to launch by the primary week of November, will enable expats to register and monitor their ballots.
“Voters will register through the app utilizing their Nationwide ID (NID) quantity, which is linked to the Election Fee’s server to find out their constituency,” Akhtar Ahmed, senior secretary of the Election Fee, instructed Al Jazeera.
Postal ballots will then be despatched to the registered abroad deal with in an envelope containing a poll paper and a pre-addressed envelope to return it by publish. The envelopes despatched out to voters will bear a QR code, which confirms supply within the app when scanned by the recipient.
“After marking their alternative, voters seal the poll and ship it from any publish workplace. A barcode on the return envelope permits them to trace its progress. Ballots are despatched on to the native returning officer underneath preparations with the Common Postal Union – embassies and diplomatic missions aren’t concerned,” Ahmed added.
He dismissed issues about envelopes being tampered with on their means again to Bangladesh. “As soon as the vote is forged and sealed within the envelope, solely the returning officer will open it. Any envelope opened or intercepted in transit will probably be instantly obvious,” he mentioned.
Did Bangladeshi staff abroad assist the 2024 rebellion?
Sure. When former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina intensified her crackdown on protesters throughout the July 2024 rebellion, Bangladeshi migrant staff world wide launched a remittance boycott marketing campaign in defiance. Remittances are the paycheques earned abroad which Bangladeshi staff ship again to their households at dwelling – these kind a big a part of Bangladesh’s financial system. Within the monetary 12 months following Hasina’s removing, expats and migrant staff despatched a document $30bn again to Bangladesh.
Bangladeshi staff additionally risked arrest to affix rallies all through Gulf international locations in 2024 to sentence Hasina’s actions. Greater than 100 staff had been detained within the United Arab Emirates, a lot of whom had been later launched after the newly put in interim authorities intervened.
On account of their actions, debates concerning the truthful remedy and voting rights of migrant staff have turn out to be central to discussions amongst interim authorities policymakers over reforms.
“Our migrant staff are the nation’s remittance warriors – it’s their proper to vote. They performed a significant function in ousting the autocrat, so securing their voting rights is important,” Majumdar mentioned.
May the expat vote tip the steadiness in Bangladesh’s upcoming election?
“Expatriate voters make up greater than 10 p.c of the voters, and in some constituencies they account for practically a fifth of whole voters. In a first-past-the-post system, that share can tip shut races,” mentioned Khaled Saifullah, joint convener of the Nationwide Citizen Celebration (NCP), based by the scholars who led the rebellion towards Hasina final 12 months.
He emphasised that the importance goes past numbers. The diaspora tends to be politically conscious, financially steady and intently related to their dwelling districts. Their participation can affect households and communities again dwelling, shaping each turnout and public opinion.
“So, the impression of expatriate voting could also be felt not solely within the poll rely but additionally within the total temper and momentum of the election,” he added.
Denied the suitable to vote for many years, Bangladeshi expatriates’ newfound suffrage ushers the nation’s electoral panorama into uncharted territory. For political events, it opens a brand new campaigning frontier with hundreds of thousands of potential voters throughout the Center East, Malaysia and Europe.
The best problem for political events will probably be partaking with this huge abroad voters.
Misinformation and disinformation on social media additionally pose challenges. Nevertheless, politicians like Saifullah imagine that when armed with details, expatriates, who are usually very lively on-line and are well-informed, exhibit an excellent capacity to counter falsehoods themselves.
“In that sense, they don’t seem to be merely potential victims of misinformation – they’re additionally our strongest line of defence towards it,” he mentioned.
What do migrant staff need – and what are politicians providing them?
Tahsin Shakil, a Bangladeshi migrant employee residing within the Gulf, mentioned he hoped the mistreatment many migrant staff face at airports and the dismissive angle of embassies to issues they encounter the place they dwell could be addressed.
He described how staff are sometimes subjected to lengthy interrogations on the airports, arbitrary baggage checks, and impolite behaviour by airport officers, whereas embassies steadily ignore their complaints or delay issuing important paperwork comparable to passports and work attestations.
“The nation’s financial system is dependent upon us, however we’re handled like third-class residents,” he mentioned.
That is what the primary contenders within the upcoming election are saying about their issues:
Nationwide Citizenship Celebration (NCP)
Saifullah, of the student-led NCP, mentioned expats ought to now not be seen solely when it comes to the worth of the remittances they ship dwelling. “Our manifesto recognises them as companions in rebuilding the state and ambassadors of Bangladesh overseas,” he mentioned.
His occasion’s manifesto pledges to safe expatriate voting rights, finish harassment at embassies and airports, and supply emergency assist for residents in misery abroad.
It additionally guarantees digital entry to public providers, assist for returnees, and a framework for direct expatriate participation in policymaking – shifting past seeing expatriates as solely remittance senders to recognising them as key companions in nationwide growth.
“Our intention is straightforward: distance mustn’t imply disenfranchisement,” Saifullah added.
Bangladesh Nationalist Celebration (BNP)
Saimum Parvez, a member of the BNP and particular assistant on the International Affairs Committee, mentioned the occasion would prioritise making situations higher for migrant staff abroad. “The BNP envisions that each Bangladeshi embassy world wide will tackle larger accountability for the welfare of expatriates, making certain they’re now not subjected to harassment, whereas additionally working to create jobs and strengthen bilateral commerce,” he mentioned.
He added that the BNP is already intently concerned with diaspora communities. “The BNP has diaspora committees internationally. I don’t suppose will probably be tough for the BNP to succeed in these voters although this established community worldwide.
“The BNP is now extremely centered on policy-based politics, aiming to enhance individuals’s lives. We’ve got already introduced insurance policies on agriculture, employment, and schooling, and within the coming months, we are going to element how these will rework the lives of peculiar residents. For that motive, I imagine the diaspora group will vote for the BNP.”
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
Shishir Manir, a Supreme Courtroom lawyer and MP candidate for Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, additionally claimed the issues of expats had been central to the occasion’s insurance policies. He instructed Al Jazeera: “Jamaat was the primary occasion to boost the problem of facilitating expatriate voters. I filed a petition within the Supreme Courtroom in search of a directive for the Election Fee to take efficient measures to allow expatriate voting, and the courtroom accepted it.
“Throughout my current visits to the UK and the Gulf, I discovered Bangladeshi expatriates extremely motivated to vote for Jamaat. We’re proposing a one-stop service centre for expatriates who face advanced land and felony instances. They need smoother providers, and we intend to supply that.
“We additionally intention to create a conducive setting that encourages expatriates to take a position again dwelling. A lot of them have expressed concern over the mismanagement and mistreatment surrounding baggage dealing with at Dhaka airport – we are going to deal with these points as effectively.”
