(a) The proposed Election Commission Act to have provisions to ensure that offenses or irregularities committed by the Election Commission to be brought to justice. (b) By amending the relevant law, to retain the provision requiring the Commission’s permission to file cases against government officers and employees, and to remove the legal barriers to conducting an investigation or inquiry in this regard. (c) To relax the prescribed time limit for filing cases under sections 73 and 74, in section 90 of the Representation of the People Order, 1972. (d) A time limit to be set for the disposal of electoral offense cases to expedite the length of adjudication and ensure timely justice.

Year
2025
Reform Domain
Electoral Process Electoral Process
Sub Domain
Electoral Offenses
Source of Reform Proposals
Electoral Reform Commission
Reform Proposed
Reform Proposed
Reform Initiated
Reform Initiated
Legal and Policy Framework
Legal and Policy Framework
Operationalisation
Operationalisation
Action Implementation
Action Implementation
Stage of Implementation
Reform Proposed
Reform Proposed
Strengthen legal accountability for electoral offences by empowering investigations against officials, removing time limits on cases, and ensuring timely adjudication of Election Commission misconduct.
Observation
    Establishing legal accountability for Election Commission irregularities is essential for public confidence; however, such accountability must be structured to balance institutional independence with safeguards against political misuse. Permitting enquiries without prior Election Commission authorisation, while retaining the requirement for prosecutorial approval, would enhance accountability but would require clearly defined protocols to prevent bureaucratic obstruction. Relaxing the time limits under sections 73 and 74 is crucial to improving access to justice, provided that robust complaint-management mechanisms are implemented to prevent abuse. Introducing time limits for the disposal of electoral offence cases could improve the timeliness of justice and strengthen deterrence; nevertheless, effective implementation would depend on adequate judicial capacity and inter-institutional coordination.
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Related Reforms

(a) Election expenditure to be capped at BDT 10 per voter per parliamentary constituency. (b) All election expenses to be processed through banking systems or financial technology platforms (e.g., Bikash, Rocket). (c) To maintain close oversight on election expenditures of candidates and political parties, the Election Commission to set up ‘election expenditure monitoring committees’ at the constituency levels. (d) Election expenditures iled by candidates and political parties to be subjected to auditing, the candidates’ election to be annulled in case of discrepancies. (e) All election related expenses of the Election Commission to be a charge on the consolidated budget of the Republic.
Legal and Policy Framework
(a) To allow stationary observation, so that observers may remain at the centre throughout the day, but not inside the polling booth continuously. (b) Official permission to be granted to observer organizations for pre-election observation. (c) Fake and biased observers to be banned. (d) Appointment of individual observers to be allowed. (e) Election observation reports to be used to improve future elections. (f) To make the steps from the beginning to the end of appointing international observers clear for the concerned organizations. To appoint observers according to the decision of the Commission instead of the government. (g) Journalist with valid election commission-issued cards to be allowed to enter polling stations to document irregularities, and they be allowed to use motorcycles on election day.
Operationalisation
(a) All Bangladeshi expatriates to be registered in the electoral roll and NID server as soon as possible. All biometric information and recent photographs to be updated during the registration process. Given that the current expatriate registration methods are time-consuming, effective strategies to optimize and accelerate the process to be identified and implemented. Since all Bangladeshi expatriates possess passports,information stored in the passport database to be utilized to expedite the registration. (b) If the next national election is to be held in December 2025, expatriates who can be registered in the voter list and NID server by October 2025 to be given the opportunity to vote in the upcoming election through the proposed postal voting system.
Reform Proposed
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Last Updated: 14th December 2025

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