The Election Commission (EC) wants to spend approximately Tk 2,800 crore on the 13th national parliamentary election for election management and law enforcement. In addition to prioritizing the national election, the constitutional body has also sought about Tk 3,000 crore for local elections.
When asked about this, EC Additional Secretary KM Ali Nawaz told Ittefaq that a total allocation of Tk 5,500 crore has been requested for national and local government elections. He further mentioned that there are several other sectors requiring funds as well.
"We have initially requested Tk 2,794.55 crore from the government for the parliamentary election. This is our preliminary demand, but it will be reviewed, and the final amount will be determined after discussions with the EC Secretariat," said the additional secretary.
For the 2025-26 fiscal year, the EC has requested Tk 5,921.72 crore from the government for the 13th national parliamentary election and other local government elections. In addition, the EC has proposed the following budget for voter list preparation, printing, and distribution of national identity cards: Tk 69.25 crore for 2025-26; Tk 70.63 crore for 2026-27 and Tk 73.44 crore for 2027-28.
For the National Identity Registration Wing, the proposed budget is: Tk 70.80 crore for 2025-26; Tk 33.58 crore for 2026-27; Tk 40.79 crore for 2027-28.
Expenditure in the previous 12 elections:
12th parliamentary election: The estimated cost of the 12th parliamentary election, scheduled for January 7, 2024, was approximately Tk 2,276.22 crore. Of this, Tk 1,225.62 crore was allocated for law enforcement agencies, while Tk 1,050.60 crore was set aside for election management.
11th parliamentary election: For the December 30, 2018 election, the total allocation for law enforcement and election management was Tk 700 crore, which later increased.
10th parliamentary election: The January 5, 2014 election cost approximately Tk 264.68 crore. Of this, Tk 81.55 crore was spent on election management and Tk 183 crore was used for law enforcement. This election involved voting in 147 constituencies, while candidates in 153 constituencies were elected unopposed. As voting was held in only half of the constituencies, the actual expenses were much lower than the allocated amount.
9th parliamentary election: The December 29, 2008 election cost Tk 165 crore. Over 8.1 crore voters participated in the election. Due to increased expenses for materials and management, the budget for this election was more than double that of the previous one.
