Election Commission Requests Candidates to Publicize Election Expenditure Details

The Election Commission has urged candidates to submit their election expenditure details.

Issuing a press release on Thursday, the Commission requested political parties to submit a statement of their income and expenditure incurred during the election campaigning to the Election Commission within 35 days of the conclusion of the election. Candidates have been asked to submit their details to the respective Provincial or District Election Office in their district, along with information confirming that the statement has been made public.

The Commission has requested that the election details be made public by displaying them on the notice boards of the concerned Provincial/District Election Office, the relevant rural municipality, municipality, or ward office, the office of any level of the political party concerned (in the case of candidates fielded by political parties), or by publishing them through mass media (newspapers, radio, television, etc.) or social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.).

The Commission has stated that political parties and candidates who fail to submit and publicize their election expenditure details, and those who do not provide written information along with proof of such publication to the Commission or the concerned election office, will be subject to action under Section 31 of the Election (Offenses and Punishment) Act, 2073.

According to Section 72, Sub-section (4) of the Election Act, 2074, candidates in the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system must publicize details of their expenses incurred during election campaigning to the concerned District Election Office. For the Proportional Representation (PR) system, the concerned political party must publicize such details to the Election Commission in the prescribed format. Legal provisions under Section 31, Sub-section (2) of the Election (Offenses and Punishment) Act, 2073, stipulate that the expenditure details must be made public as directed by the Commission for the information of all concerned.

The Election Commission had mandated the opening of bank accounts to ensure transparency in financial assistance received by political parties and candidates. The measure also aimed to enforce spending limits set by election laws and facilitate effective monitoring of campaign finances.

Under the Procedure for Operation and Management of Bank Accounts for House of Representatives Election Publicity, 2025, all registered political parties, their candidates for both proportional representation and FPTP systems, as well as independent candidates, were instructed to conduct all income and expenditure related to campaign financing through these designated accounts. The requirement applied to any financial transactions involving contributions received for election publicity purposes. -- RSS