The Election Commission has proposed sharply higher candidate deposits and campaign spending caps for union council elections, bringing the rules more closely in line with recent changes for parliamentary polls.

The proposal would quintuple deposits and substantially raise spending limits, marking the first increase in those thresholds in nearly a decade and a half.

Under the plan, chairman candidates would have to deposit Tk 25,000, up from Tk 5,000, while member candidates would pay Tk 5,000, up from Tk 1,000.

The commission has also proposed setting campaign spending caps at Tk 1 million for chairman candidates and Tk 200,000 for member candidates.

Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud told bdnews24.com on Wednesday that the commission had sent a raft of proposed amendments to the union council election rules to the government.

Under the existing rules, a candidate forfeits their deposit if they fail to secure one-eighth of the votes cast.

The proposal would raise that threshold to 15 percent.

The commission has also proposed merging previously separate personal and campaign expense limits into a single spending cap.

Chairman candidates would face a ceiling of Tk 1 million, up from the current combined limit of Tk 550,000 — Tk 50,000 in personal expenses and Tk 500,000 in campaign spending.

Member candidates would see their combined ceiling rise from Tk 110,000 to Tk 200,000.

The Local Government (Union Council) Election Rules were first issued in 2008 under the army-backed caretaker government.

Parliament later passed the Local Government (Union Council) Election Act in 2009, followed by fresh rules in 2010.

Although the rules have been amended several times since, candidate deposits and spending caps have not been raised.

For the February parliamentary election, candidate deposits were raised from Tk 20,000 to Tk 50,000, while spending limits were expanded to allow more than Tk 2.5 million based on Tk 10 per voter.

Abdul Alim, a member of the Election System Reform Commission formed under the interim government, described the EC's move as a step in the right direction.

The election analyst said higher deposits and spending caps were justified by the declining value of money, but warned that the changes could price capable, locally respected candidates with limited financial means out of the race.

He urged the commission to maintain strict oversight of campaign spending.

The AMM Nasir Uddin-led commission has been pursuing a series of local government election reforms alongside changes for parliamentary polls and has already gazetted a new code of conduct.

As part of that process, the commission has sent the government 21 proposed amendments to the existing union council election rules, ranging from clerical changes to more substantive reforms.

Among the other proposals are:

• penalties for threats, intimidation or obstruction of election officials;

• clearer provisions for assisting voters with visual or physical disabilities;

• monitoring committees to track electoral offences and conduct-code breaches once the election schedule is announced;

• powers to suspend results pending investigations into irregularities;

• authority for the commission to order re-polling; and

• provisions allowing the commission to cancel a candidacy as the strongest penalty for rule violations.

Masud said the conduct code had already been gazetted, while amendments to the election rules were awaiting government approval.

He added that proposed changes to the Local Government Election Act had also been sent to the government.

The commission is aiming to complete preparations and announce the union council election schedule this month.