The weekly meeting of the Council of Adviser was held at the Chief Adviser’s Office in the city’s Tejgaon area with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in the chair. Photo: PID

DHAKA, Oct 23, 2025 (BSS) – The government today gave final approval to the Representation of the People (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 (RPO) having provisions for introducing ‘No’ vote and scrapping the clause related to the use of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in the elections.

The Council of Advisers today gave the approval at its weekly meeting held at the Chief Adviser's Office in the city’s Tejgaon area with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in the chair.

“The most important amendment in the RPO is the repeal of the provision regarding electronic voting machines (EVMs). In addition, the ‘no vote’ has been reinstated,” Law Adviser Professor Asif Nazrul told a briefing at the Foreign Service Academy here this afternoon after the meeting. Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam also spoke at the briefing.

Professor Nazrul said this provision has been brought to prevent a repeat of the rigged elections like 2014.

“If there is one candidate in any constituency, voters can choose ‘no vote’ if they do not like him. Then, there will be a re-election in that constituency,” Professor Nazrul added. 

He said the new amendment includes the army, navy and air force in the definition of law enforcement agencies. 

The adviser said the amendment also includes that fugitive accused in different cases will not be able to participate in the elections while the district election officers will be responsible for the district-based election offices.

Candidates will have to give details of their income and assets from domestic and foreign sources to the Election Commission (EC) in an affidavit, Professor Nazrul said, adding, it will be made public for the people on the website.

“The Chief Adviser has instructed that these disclosures be made public so every citizen can know how much their candidates earn, from where, and what property they own,” said Professor Nazrul.

The amended law also includes that the election deposit amount has been increased to Taka 50,000 from Taka 20,000 and it made mandatory to use banking channels and the donor’s tax return while donating money to any candidate Tk 50,000 and more.

According to the ordinance, expatriate voters residing abroad and officials engaged in election work will be able to cast their votes by postal ballots and the presence of the media has been ensured during the counting of votes. 

Besides, the Election Commission has been given the power to cancel the votes of the entire area in case of widespread irregularities in any constituency.

In the case of contesting elections from an alliance, candidates have to vie in the elections with their respective party symbols so that voters can easily understand which party they are running for.