Banned League Symbol on Postal Ballots

Intense criticism has once again sparked on the appearance of banned Bangladeshi political party Awami League's boat symbol on the ballot paper prepared by the Election Commission for Bangladeshi voters abroad.

The Election Commission has published a list of 120 postal ballots with the symbol, and the boat symbol of the Awami League (suspended) has been put on it. The constitutional body could not give a proper answer as to why and for what reason the boat symbol was put on the postal ballot.

Akhtar Ahmed, Senior Secretary of the Election Commission Secretariat, said, "I have not yet seen the sample copy of the postal ballot. If the registration is suspended, there should not be a boat symbol on the ballot. However, we will take necessary measures after looking at the ballot paper."

EC sources said that they had published a list of 119 symbols on October 30, focusing on the upcoming national parliamentary elections. In addition to these 119 symbols, a 'no vote' option has been included in the postal ballot this time. Of the 119 symbols placed on the ballot, 56 are political party symbols.

Voting must be done by placing a cross or tick mark against one of the symbols on the postal ballot. The constitutional body has begun intensive efforts to bring two million expatriate voters under the postal ballot in the upcoming 13th parliamentary election. Online registration has begun to encourage nearly 15 million expatriate voters to vote. At the same time, postal ballots have been prepared. However, the postal ballot that the EC issued has a boat symbol.

On May 22 this year, the EC issued a communique suspending the registration process of the Awami League. On July 16 this year, in the face of demands from political parties, the boat symbol was removed from the Election Commission's website.

According to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), if the registration process of a party is suspended, that political party cannot participate in the election. If a party cannot participate in the election, then why would their symbol be on the postal ballot list? This is the question asked by those involved in the election.

Those concerned say that if the ballot paper has a boat symbol, the next national election will be questionable. Because expatriate voters can vote with the boat symbol on the postal ballot and spread that picture on social media. This can create a new controversy about the vote.

This time, Election Commissioner Brigadier General (Retd.) Abul Fazal Md. Sanaullah has confirmed that four categories of voters will be able to vote in postal ballots. He said that expatriates, officials involved in polling, government officials and prisoners will be able to vote in this postal ballot. For this, the commission has undertaken extensive work.

It is worth noting that since the registration process of political parties was launched in 2008, 59 political parties have received registration from the Election Commission so far. Of these, the EC canceled the registration of three political parties. And the registration of Awami League is suspended.