The Election Commission (EC) of Bangladesh has received approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to commence voter registration activities in five new countries, including the United States.
This was confirmed on Wednesday by ASM Humayun Kabir, director general of the National Identity Registration Division.
“We had submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeking approval to initiate voter registration in eight new countries,” said Humayun Kabir.
He added: “In response, we have received permission to begin the registration process in the United States, Maldives, Jordan, South Africa, and Oman.”
He expressed optimism that approval for the remaining countries would be granted in due course.
According to EC sources, the commission had earlier devised a plan to expand voter registration operations to 40 countries.
Currently, with the Ministry’s approval, the EC is conducting registration activities for expatriate Bangladeshis at 16 stations across nine countries—namely the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Italy, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Qatar, Malaysia, Australia, and Canada.
Following the Ministry’s recent approval for launching the registration process in Japan, the EC is set to begin operations there on Tuesday.
The voter registration activities are administered through the respective embassies, where applicants are required to apply online and then visit the embassy in person to complete the process, including biometric data capture.
Once the newly approved five countries are included, the EC’s overseas voter registration program will span a total of 15 countries.