The Election Commission (EC) has fixed the security deposit for Union Parishad (UP) chairman candidates at Tk25,000 and for members at Tk5,000.
The EC has also set the maximum election expenditure at Tk10 lakh for chairman candidates and Tk2 lakh for members.
The provisions were included in the Union Parishad (Election Conduct) Rules, 2026, published in a gazette notification.
Candidates will have to deposit the security amount through treasury challan, pay order or bank draft. The deposit will be refunded if a candidate receives at least 15 percent of the votes cast. Otherwise, it will be forfeited to the government.
A chairman candidate will be required to make payments by cheque for election-related expenses of Tk20,000 or more under any single head.
Under amended Rule 80(a), anyone who threatens, intimidates, assaults or obstructs election officials, authorised media representatives or observers may face up to two years in prison, a fine of up to Tk10,000, or both.
The provision also applies to anyone who forcibly prevents voters from going to polling stations or candidates from submitting or withdrawing nomination papers.
The amended rules also provide for a re-election in case of a tie. If two or more candidates receive an equal number of the highest votes, the EC will direct the returning officer to conduct a re-poll among those candidates.
The rules also empower the EC to suspend the result of any polling station if voting is found to have been seriously affected by force, intimidation, manipulation or other malpractice.
After an inquiry, the EC may publish the result if it considers the election valid. Otherwise, it may cancel the election at the affected polling station and order a re-poll.
