Following decades of authoritarian rule, Bangladesh has embarked on an ambitious and necessary process of constitutional and electoral reform. Among the priorities for the upcoming 13th parliamentary elections is the long-overdue enfranchisement of approximately 10 million Bangladeshi expatriates, primarily labour migrants, systematically excluded from participating in national elections.

While the country's electoral framework normatively recognises the voting rights of its overseas citizens through an out-of-country voting (OCV) mechanism based on postal ballots, the system has never been effectively implemented. Despite its de jure existence, Bangladesh's OCV framework remains de facto inoperative due to a range of persistent challenges. These include procedural and administrative complexities, a lack of timely voter information and outreach, logistical constraints in ballot distribution and return, political controversy over dual citizenship, and broader concerns over democratic deficits and legitimacy of past elections. These obstacles have collectively silenced politically a large segment of the country's eligible electorate.

With national elections anticipated by the end of the year, public and political attention has increasingly turned towards identifying feasible OCV mechanisms. The Election Commission has reviewed several options—postal ballots, online voting, and proxy voting—and has provisionally favoured proxy voting as the most operationally viable method within the limited timeframe. This method allows a registered voter to authorise another person—typically residing in the same constituency—to cast a ballot on their behalf. Commonly used in countries such as the UK, France, Belgium, Canada, and India, proxy voting is often employed when voters are unable to attend their polling station due to travel, illness, or overseas residence. Its appeal lies in its relative simplicity, offering a workaround in contexts where digital infrastructure or reliable postal systems are lacking. The use of proxy voting, however, in some of these jurisdictions is very limited.

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Proxy voting presents obvious benefits. It facilitates participation for overseas voters, those unable to physically access polling stations, accommodates persons with disabilities or mobility challenges, and provides a flexible option for last-minute changes in personal circumstances. It is especially useful in low-infrastructure settings where postal or electronic voting may be unreliable or unfeasible.

Nonetheless, its adoption comes with significant risks and limitations. Key among them is the potential compromise of electoral integrity. Unlike supervised or assisted voting at polling stations, there are limited means of verifying whether the proxy acted according to the voter's actual preference. This opens the door to abuse—such as vote buying, undue influence, coercion, or manipulation—particularly in systems where a proxy may cast votes on behalf of multiple individuals.

The secrecy of the ballot is another concern. It is difficult, if not impossible, to ensure that the proxy vote reflects the true intent of the voter. The risk of delegitimising the principle of "one person, one vote" is also heightened when proxies fail to vote in accordance with the original voter's will. The proxy voting system in Vanuatu, for example, has been facing these challenges.

Moreover, while perhaps logistically simpler than other OCV methods, proxy voting requires rigorous procedural oversight, including secure voter-proxy registration, robust authentication mechanisms, and monitoring to prevent fraud or multiple voting. In highly politically polarised contexts such as Bangladesh—where past elections have been plagued by irregularities, violence, and widespread mistrust—unless proxy voting is rigorously regulated, it may be perceived as particularly vulnerable to manipulation and thus incapable of generating public or stakeholder confidence.

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Striking the right balance between accessibility and integrity remains a critical challenge as efforts to make proxy voting broadly accessible may unintentionally weaken safeguards, while overly stringent regulations could make the process inaccessible and thus ineffective.

Lastly, international best practice suggests that introducing new, untested voting methods to enfranchise large numbers of voters shortly before a major transitional election is rarely advisable. Often, late-stage reforms face serious logistical, legal, and political constraints, which can undermine their credibility and effectiveness.

It would be prudent for the EC to prepare alternative OCV mechanisms as contingency options should proxy voting prove unfeasible. Postal voting—though less ambitious in its reach of overseas voters—appears to present a more pragmatic alternative. As it is already legislated—other than extending several timelines of the election to allow the delivery and collection of postal ballots—its implementation would not require major legal reform, but rather a more effective operational strategy.

To make postal voting viable for the next general election, the EC would need to act with urgency. Key steps could include establishing a secure overseas voter registration process, taking stock of which countries have viable postal service, conducting extensive outreach through diplomatic missions and diaspora networks, and addressing operational constraints such as ballot printing, dispatch, and return timelines. Robust verification mechanisms and stakeholder consultations will be essential to uphold electoral integrity and build trust in the process.

While proxy voting offers a short-term solution for the inclusion of overseas voters, its introduction does not come without considerable risks. A dual-track approach—prioritising proxy voting with a parallel plan for postal voting as contingency—would provide Bangladesh with a more balanced, credible path towards electoral inclusion and reform. Following the next elections, the adoption of a stronger, more permanent, viable, accessible, and sustainable OCV system can then be more comprehensively explored as part of a long-term electoral reform agenda.

Antonio Spinelli is senior adviser, Asia and the Pacific, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own. 

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