Nearly 300,000 postal ballots cast by expatriate Bangladeshis for the 13th National Parliamentary Election and Referendum have already arrived in the country.

Election Commission (EC) sources confirmed the information on Monday (February 2).

According to the EC, a total of 766,862 postal ballots were sent to Bangladeshi voters residing abroad. Of these, 524,080 ballots were received by expatriate voters. A total of 467,707 expatriates cast their votes using postal ballots.

Among them, 423,712 expatriate voters submitted their completed ballots to post offices for return to Bangladesh. So far, 297,350 postal ballots have arrived in the country, and 6,042 of those have been forwarded to the respective returning officers.

Meanwhile, postal ballots were also sent to voters residing within the country. The EC said 646,507 postal ballots were sent to domestic voters, of which 125,668 voters received them. A total of 96,632 voters cast their votes, while 70,810 submitted their ballots at post offices. Returning officers have so far received 3,655 ballots.

The EC further said that election campaigning will continue until 7:30 am on February 10. Voting is scheduled to take place on February 12 from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm.