Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir  Uddin. -File Photo

DHAKA, April 8, 2025 (BSS) - Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir 
Uddin today said the voting system of expatriates will be finalized shortly, 
following consultations with technical experts.

The CEC made this remark while inaugurating a daylong workshop on determining 
voting systems for expatriate Bangladeshis at the Election Training Institute 
(ETI) in the capital's Agargaon area. 

Around 80 individuals, including experts and election officials, participated 
at the workshop, which aimed to gather insights from experts and 
representatives from Dhaka University (DU), BUET, MIST, and both government 
and non-government development partners, emphasizing on the "proxy voting" 
system that postal or online voting.

The Election Commission (EC) hosted the workshop as part of an effort to 
introduce expatriate voting in some countries on a pilot basis, with initial 
consideration given to the "proxy voting" system. 

The CEC mentioned that they're giving top priority to ensuring the voting 
rights of expatriate Bangladeshis, saying: "I believe that today's workshop 
will help in determining a specific voting method." 

"Following the suggested approach, necessary steps will be taken to implement 
it, and a framework will be developed," he added. 

He continued, "The voting method will be piloted in certain countries before 
being expanded."

The CEC also said decisions will be made considering the social, political, 
and educational realities of expatriates. "Any method we select for 
expatriate voting will first be tested on a small scale before being scaled 
up," he added.

Nasir Uddin reaffirmed the EC's commitment similar to the interim government 
to facilitating expatriate voting in the next election.

The CEC further explained, "Many expatriates have approached us, requesting 
the opportunity to vote for them. However, we've found that it is not 
straightforward." 

"After extensive review, we're focusing on three methods: postal voting, 
which is currently in place, online voting, and proxy voting," he said, 
mentioning Germany as an example in the discussion.

During his keynote address at the workshop, Election Commissioner Abul Fazal 
Md. Sanaullah said postal and online voting methods are unlikely to be 
effective here while proxy voting seems more appropriate.