The Election Commission has begun drafting a unified code of conduct for elections to all five local government tiers, with provisions to ban posters and increase security deposits for the polls, likely to be held later this year.
As part of the preparation, the commission is also working to amend relevant laws and regulations, as existing codes of conduct vary across different local government tiers.
An EC meeting is scheduled for today at 10:30am to discuss the proposed reforms, Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud told The Daily Star.
“The discussion will focus on what changes are needed in the law and what amendments should be made to election rules and codes of conduct,” he said.
The commission is also reviewing proposals to allow billboard campaigning, and expand social media use for electioneering
He also said a final draft will be prepared after the meeting and later placed before the full commission for approval.
Masud said several reforms are being considered. “Posters will not be allowed. Online submission of nomination papers will not continue. Independent candidates will no longer need to submit documents showing minimum support.”
He added, “There should be a single code of conduct for all local government tiers.”
The EC is preparing to hold elections to five non-partisan local government bodies -- city corporations, municipalities, district councils, upazila parishads, and union parishads.
Bangladesh currently has 13 city corporations, 500 upazila parishads, 61 district councils, and 4,580 union parishads.
The commission faces a backlog of local government elections, as the tenures of many bodies have already expired. No local government polls have been held in more than two years.
After the fall of the Awami League government in August 2024, the interim government did not arrange any local polls. An ordinance was issued to suspend voting with party symbols.
EC officials said local government laws and regulations will be aligned with the Representation of the People Order (RPO), election rules, and codes of conduct.
The commission is also reviewing proposals to increase security deposits, allow campaigning through billboards, and expand the use of social media for campaigning.
Masud said the EC is considering measures to prevent MPs from influencing upazila parishad elections.
“Since MPs have offices in upazilas, there is always scope for influence. We are thinking of including provisions in the code of conduct so they do not go, or go less often, to upazila parishads during elections,” he said.
On raising security deposits, he said the move aims to discourage non-serious candidates.
“If too many candidates contest, ballot papers become larger, and the costs will rise. Voters may also get confused. We want only genuine candidates to run,” he said.
Under the existing city corporation election laws, mayoral candidates must deposit Tk 20,000 in constituencies with up to five lakh voters. The amount rises to Tk 30,000 for areas with 5.01 lakh to 10 lakh voters, Tk 50,000 for 10 lakh to 20 lakh voters, and Tk 1 lakh for areas with over 20 lakh voters.
For ward councillor posts, the security deposit ranges from Tk 10,000 to Tk 50,000 based on the number of voters. For reserved women’s councillor posts, the security deposit is Tk 10,000.
For the upazila elections in 2024, the EC had raised the chairman’s deposit from Tk 10,000 to Tk 1 lakh. Deposits for candidates in municipality, district council, and union parishad elections vary depending on the number of voters.
EC officials also said the commission is developing election calendar software -- Election Schedule Management Module (EMS) -- to help announce local election schedules on time.
EC’s Deputy Secretary Mohammad Monir Hossain said the software is being updated with information, including the date of the last election and gazette publication, along with ward demarcations and voter list revisions.
