EC will sue 2,500 candidates by Aug 31

Submitting upazila polls expenditure info
The Election Commission (EC) will file cases against about 2,500 candidates of the January 22 upazila polls for not submitting their election expenditure statements in time.
The EC has already directed deputy commissioners, who were also the returning officers of the polls, to file the cases by August 31, EC sources said.
If the returning officers, according to the sources, show reluctance in filing the cases, upazila election officers or district election officers concerned will then file the cases on behalf of the EC.
According to clause 26 (g) of the Local Government (Upazila Parishad) Ordinance 2008, an elected chairman, vice-chairman or member of the upzila parishad will be dismissed if he/she fails to submit the electoral expense statement in time. And a contestant may be sentenced to 6 months to 7 years in jail for the failure of submitting the expense statement to the EC in time.
The EC has already filed cases against the candidates to the 9th parliamentary elections, who failed to submit their electoral expense statements in time.
During the 22 January upazila polls, some 3,387 candidates contested for chairmanship, 2,890 for the posts of vice-chairman and 1,933 contestants vied for the posts of women vice-chairmen.
According to Clause 55 of the upazila electoral code of conduct, it is mandatory for the contestants to submit their electoral expense statements to the returning officers concerned within 30 days of publishing the gazette of the results. The last date for submitting the statements was March 31, but almost one third of the candidates did not submit their statements in time. Many of the candidates have sent letters to the EC showing various excuses, including illness, ignorance about electoral laws etc. for their failure to submit the expense statements, while many others submitted statements after the deadline.
But, the EC will not take into cognizance these excuses as well as the statements submitted after the deadline and file case against them, the EC sources said.
 
Courtesy of The Independent