(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., Bkash, 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 filed 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.

Year
2025
Reform Domain
Electoral Process Electoral Process
Sub Domain
Election Expenses
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
Last Update: 14-Dec-25
This reform proposal has been articulated in the Electoral Reform Commission Report but has yet to be officially initiated
Reform Initiated
Reform Initiated
Last Update: 14-Dec-25
This reform proposal has been articulated in the Electoral Reform Commission Report but has yet to be officially initiated
Legal and Policy Framework
Legal and Policy Framework
Last Update: 14-Dec-25
Revised RPO gazette published by the GoB that empowered EC to mandate digital transactions, annual audits, and spending caps.
Operationalisation
Operationalisation
Last Update: 02-May-26
Following the revised RPO gazette, which mandates spending caps and submission of election expenditure statements, candidates were required to submit their expenditure returns within 30 days of the gazette publication (13 February 2026). The Election Commission instructed candidates on 25 February 2026 to submit their statements by 15 March 2026. As of 20 April 2026, despite the expiry of the stipulated deadline and a subsequent one-month extension granted by the Election Commission, 92 candidates have yet to submit their election expenditure statements, while the remaining candidates have complied. The Election Commission is still awaiting full disclosure.
Observation
    Article 44B of the RPO states that a contesting candidate’s election expenses must not exceed the higher of either 10 taka per voter or 25 lakh taka in total. Article 44BB requires candidates to open a separate account with a scheduled bank and to make all election-related payments from that account.

    However, compliance remains incomplete, as 92 candidates have yet to submit their election expenditure statements even after the expiry of the stipulated deadline and a subsequent extension granted by the Election Commission. Despite existing legal provisions for penalties in cases of non-compliance, the Election Commission has not announced or enforced any specific penalty mechanism for delayed or non-submission. This raises concerns regarding the Commission’s capacity to effectively monitor compliance and enforce the regulatory framework on election expenditure.
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Related Reforms

(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 organisations for pre-election observation. (c) Fake and biased observers to be banned. (d) Appointment of individual observers is to be allowed. (e) Election observation reports are 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 organisations. To appoint observers according to the decision of the Commission instead of the government. (g) Journalists with valid election commission-issued cards are to be allowed to enter polling stations to document irregularities, and they are to be allowed to use motorcycles on election day.
Operationalisation
(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.
Reform Proposed
(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 optimise and accelerate the process to be identified and implemented. Since all Bangladeshi expatriates possess passports,information stored in the passport database to be utilised 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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Glossary

Last Updated: 14th December 2025

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