Polls Campaign: Candidate can’t spend more than Tk 25 lakh

The amounts a candidate can spend for electioneering on each voter and in total in the upcoming national election is the same as before, according to a notification from the Election Commission.

For electioneering, a candidate can spend Tk 10 per voter and Tk 25 lakh in total even if the number of voters in a constituency is more than 2.5 lakh, as per the notification issued in line with The Representation of the People Order, 1972.

If any alliance of political parties wants a single symbol in the election, they will need to apply within three days of the announcement of the schedule, according to a separate instruction of the EC.

The EC on Wednesday announced the schedule of the 12th parliamentary election, which would be held on January 7.

No one will be able to begin their election campaigns before December 18 as the EC will allocate the electoral symbol on that day, said EC Secretary Jahangir Alam.

According to the electoral rules, the election campaign will start for all parties 21 days before the election date and wrap up on January 5, he said.

Asked about people already seeking votes for Boat, the electoral symbol of the ruling Awami League, in violation of the code of conduct for election, Alam said: "Nobody complained to us yet about this."

The electoral code of conduct takes effect with the announcement of the poll schedule.

Ministers and lawmakers would not be able to use government vehicles or enjoy other facilities while carrying out campaign-related work. They are also not allowed to make any donation to any institution from public funds.

The government would not be allowed to approve or inaugurate any development project to woo voters.

After the allocation of the electoral symbols, the ballots will be readied and then will be sent to the districts three or four days before the polls, Alam said.

But it will be decided later when the ballots will be sent to the voting centres.

About the transfer of the government officials, Alam said: "We don't know if such transfers happened after the announcement of the election schedule. From now on, if any such decision is needed, the ministry concerned will send the proposal to the EC and then we will give their opinion."

If any local government representative like the upazila chairman or the union parishad chairman wants to take part in the upcoming parliamentary election, he or she will need to resign first.

The EC has invited applications from local observers. The deadline for applying is November 25.