Election Commission Urges Candidates to Submit Campaign Finance Reports

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

Issuing a statement on Thursday, the Commission requested political parties to submit details of income and expenditure from election campaigning to the Election Commission, and candidates to submit them to their respective District Election Offices, within 35 days of the election completion. The Commission also requested them to inform about the publication of these details.

The Commission requests that the election details be made public on the notice board of the respective Province/District Election Office, the notice board of the concerned Village Municipality or Municipality or Ward Office, any level of office or website of the political party (in the case of candidates nominated by the political party), mass media (newspapers, radio, television, etc.) or social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.).

The Commission stated that political parties and candidates who fail to submit or publish their election expenditure details, or who publish the details but fail to provide written information along with proof of publication to the Commission and the concerned election office, will be prosecuted under Section 31 of the Election (Offenses and Punishment) Act, 2073.

As per sub-section (4) of Section 72 of the Election Act, 2074, candidates under the First-Past-the-Post system must submit details of expenditure incurred during election campaigning to the concerned District Election Office, and in the case of the Proportional Representation system, the concerned political party must submit the details of income and expenditure from election campaigning to the Election Commission in the prescribed format. There is a legal provision under sub-section (2) of Section 31 of the Election (Offenses and Punishment) Act, 2073, that the expenditure details must be made public by the Commission as specified for the information of all concerned parties.