Electoral Process Archives | Page 3 of 4 | Citizen's Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh

Necessary immediate measures to be initiated to provide updated photo-enabled NID smart cards to all citizens included in the voter list, so that these smart cards can be used for voter identification.

National Identity Registration Act 2023, that transferred the responsibility of NID management to the Ministry of Home Affair, to be immediately repealed.

Registered political parties to be brought under the Right to Information Act, 2009.

Political party funds to be spent transparently and audited accounts of parties to be made public and submitted to the Election Commission, which will have the authority to scrutinize such accounts and publish them in its website.

Boundaries of all parliamentary constituencies to be redrawn, based on the proposed amendments of the law drafted by the Reform Commission and in alignment with internationally recognized principles of boundary delimitation, and a special committee comprising relevant experts to be formed with the help of the Election Commission to undertake the boundary-redrawing process for the coming election.

The Commission to be responsible for providing protection to candidates and their electoral and polling agents during election.

The Commission to organise ‘candidate forums’ involving voter-candidate face-to-face events in each constituency to foster engagement between voters and candidates.

If a contesting political party is aggrieved by the Commission’s certification of an election to be free, fair and credible, it will have 48 hours to lodge a complaint with the National Constitutional Council (NCC) or the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. The Council or the Court to settle the complaint within 7 working days.

Within 48 hours of the national election, and before publishing the results in the national Gazette, the Commission is to issue a public declaration certifying the integrity, credibility and acceptability of the said election.

A legal requirement to be put in place such that, during election period, any decision undertaken by any part of the executive branch of the government that could affect election will have to be explicitly vetted by the Election Commission.

Total Reforms Being Tracked

31

13

Reform Proposed

The reform idea or commitment is publicly articulated.

01

Reform Initiated

Preliminary steps are taken (e.g., circulars or notices by relevant...

07

Legal and Policy Framework

The reform is codified in policy, law, or regulation.

06

Operationalisation

Institutional or administrative mechanisms are established for the reform delivery.

04

Action Implementation

Tangible actions showing visible progress or outcomes are taken.