The Election Commission (EC) has banned posters and the collection of voters’ National Identity Card (NID) and mobile financial service (MFS) numbers in campaigns for the upcoming local government elections.
The EC on Monday gazetted separate codes of conduct for elections to union parishads, municipalities, city corporations, upazila parishads and district councils.
Under the new rules, candidates can use banners, leaflets, festoons and a limited number of billboards. Campaigning through loudspeakers and mobile vehicles will also be allowed from noon until sunset, with only one microphone permitted at a time. Loudspeakers will not be allowed in district council elections.
Campaigning on social media will be permitted, but the expenses must be included in candidates’ election expenditure. The rules also prohibit using artificial intelligence to spread false information, manipulated images or misleading content.
Candidates or their supporters cannot collect voters’ or their family members’ NID numbers to influence their voting decisions. Collecting mobile numbers for MFS transactions is also prohibited.
The restrictions come after allegations during the 13th parliamentary election that voters’ NID and MFS numbers were being collected. The new code replaces the 2016 rules as local government elections are set to be held on a non-party basis without electoral symbols.
Under the rules, one billboard can be used in each ward in city corporation and union parishad elections. In upazila elections, one billboard can be used in each union or municipal ward, with a maximum of 20 in an electoral area. District council candidates can use one billboard in each thana or upazila.
Campaign materials must be black and white, while festoons and handbills cannot be covered with polythene or made of PVC. The date of printing must also be mentioned.
The code bars “very important persons” from campaigning for candidates, including the prime minister, ministers, MPs, speaker, opposition leader, chief whip, whips, mayors and local government administrators.
Violations can carry up to six months’ imprisonment and fines. For union parishad elections, the maximum fine remains Tk10,000.
All UPs in an upazila to vote together
Meanwhile, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said union parishad elections would be held in several phases, but all unions within an upazila would vote on the same day.
“An upazila’s all union parishads will vote simultaneously,” he told reporters at the Election Commission building on Monday. He said holding elections in some unions of an upazila in one phase and the rest in another could create disorder.
Akhtar made the remarks after a meeting on accreditation for journalists and election observers. The EC is considering issuing observer cards online. Meanwhile, he said the schedule for the by-election to Thakurgaon-1, a seat vacated by President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, would be announced this week.
