Municipal poll contenders can spend maximum Tk 0.5m

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Candidates seeking to contest in the upcoming municipal elections can spend a maximum amount of Tk 0.5 million for their campaigns, reports bdnews24.com.
An Election Commission gazette notification, published Thursday, set the expenditure limit, which is similar to that of the union parishad candidates.
The notification outlines the maximum poll costs in ratio to the number of voters in the areas for the three stages of local government elections: City Corporation, Union Parishad and Municipality.
The new regulations state that contenders will be able to spend Tk 0.2 million in areas with 25,000 voters, Tk 0.3 million in areas with voters ranging from 25,000 to 50,000, Tk 0.4 million in areas with 50,000 voters and Tk 0.5 million in areas with more than 0.1 million voters.
Mayor contenders will be allowed to spend Tk 10,000 to Tk 50,000 for personal expenses in ratio to the number of voters in the area.
Councilor candidates are allowed to spend a maximum of Tk 0.2 million for areas with more than 50,000 voters, Tk 0.15 million for areas with 10,000 - 20,000 voters, Tk 0.1 million for areas with 5,000-10,000 voters and up to Tk 50,000 for areas with less than 5,000 voters.
They can show a maximum personal expenses ranging between Tk 5,000 and Tk 15,000 in ratio to the number of voters in their polling areas.
Municipal mayor contender will have to submit Tk 5,000 as security deposit while councillors will have to deposit Tk 1,000.
The government passed the Municipal Act 2009 last year. The amended Local Government (Municipal) Act-2010 was passed on September 28.