Security deposit for chairman aspirants increases

The Election Commission has increased the rate of security deposit for the upazila chairman and vice chairman aspirants by 10 and 15 times, respectively.

According to a gazette notification on the amendment of Upazila Parishad Election Rules and Election Conduct Rules issued on Tuesday, an upazila chairman aspirant will need to submit security money of Tk 1,00,000 from now on, which was Tk 10,000 previously.

Similarly, a vice chairman aspirant will need to submit Tk 75,000 as security deposit, while the previous amount was Tk 5,000.

Besides, the commission has also decided to raise the required percentage of votes to get back the security deposit after polls.

Now a candidate has to get 15 percent of the total votes cast in an election to save their security deposit, instead of the existing 12.5 percent.

Besides, as per the commission's decision, independent candidates will no longer be required to submit signatures of 250 voters alongside their nomination papers for Upazila Parishad polls.

EC Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath yesterday said they have scrapped the system of submitting signatures of supporters as they have found some evidence of fraudulence in collecting those signatures.

In a meeting on February 20, the commission finalised its decision regarding the changes. It was sent to the law ministry for vetting, and the gazette notification was issued on Tuesday.

The commission has also approved the proposal to use colour posters alongside traditional black and white ones.

The EC is considering holding elections for 481 upazilas across the country in multiple phases in May this year.