Dhaka, Jan. 6 -- More than 1.5 million voters in Bangladesh and overseas have registered to cast their ballots by post in the upcoming parliamentary election and referendum.

Among those who signed up for postal voting ahead of the Feb 12 election, 761,140 are residing in the country, while 772,542 are expatriates, according to the Election Commission (EC).

Registration for expatriate voters opened for the first time through the "Postal Vote BD" mobile app on Nov 19. Registration within Bangladesh began after the election schedule was announced and closed at midnight on Monday.

Postal voting is open to expatriate Bangladeshis as well as election officials, government employees working outside their home constituencies and voters in cust...