The Election Commission (EC) will cancelexpatriate voter registration applications ifapplicants fail to respond within seven days afterrepeated attempts to contact them, officials saidyesterday.The directive applies to cases where electionofficials need to verify information after collectingan applicant's biometric data.According to the EC, the relevant upazila or thana election officer will first make several attempts to contact the applicant using the registered mobile number. If those calls go unanswered, the officer will send a text message. Mamun said the commission had issued the directive because many expatriate applicants fail to answer or return calls from election officials, delaying the verification process. The EC is currently conducting expatriate voter registration and NID distribution at 24 stations in 14 countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the US, the UK, Italy, Kuwait and Malaysia. The commission is also preparing to launch expatriate voter registration in five more countries -- Sweden, Bahrain, Singapore, Norway and Finland.