The amendment to the Representation of the People Order (RPO) for using electronic voting machines (EVMs) alongside ballot papers in the general elections has been tabled in the parliament
It also includes a minimum penalty of three years in prison and a maximum of seven years for the misuse of EVMs
Law Minister Anisul Huq placed the RPO (Amendment) Bill 2019 in the House on Tuesday (Feb 26), when was unanimously moved to the parliamentary standing committee by voice votes.
Piloting the bill, the minister said the proposed bill will replace and amend the Representation of the People Order, 1972.
The law minister urged the parliament to send the proposed bill to the parliamentary standing body for providing report within a day.
Besides the use of EVMs, the amended RPO includes a provision that allows candidates for the parliamentary elections to repay defaulted loans until a day before the submission of the nominations, which now has to be done seven days before the submission.
The provision for online submission of the nomination forms has also been added to the RPO.
In October last year, the path for using EVMs in the 11th National Election was cleared when the president signed the ordinance bringing changes to the RPO amid opposition from some political groups.
E-voting was exclusively used in six constituencies in the general election held on Dec 30 last year.
Voters in Dhaka-6, Dhaka-13, Chattogram-9, Rangpur-3, Khulna-2 and Satkhira-2 constituencies exercised their franchises through EVMs.