Dhaka, Feb. 7 -- More than 420,000 postal ballots cast by expatriate Bangladeshis have arrived in the country ahead of next week's parliamentary election.

Salim Ahmad Khan, team leader of the Election Commission's OCV-SDI project, said 422,960 ballots had been received by 10:15am on Saturday.

Election Commission (EC) data shows that almost half a million expatriate voters have already cast their ballots, with most having returned them through postal services in their host countries.

The commission sent postal ballots to more than 760,000 overseas voters ahead of the Feb 12 general election and referendum, officials said. More than 520,000 expatriates had received their ballots as of Saturday morning.

The EC has urged voters to return ...