EC begins the process to take action against candidates

The Election Commission has forwarded the process to take action against the candidates of the May 13 local poll who have not submitted their expenditure details. According to the Election Commission, out of 145,013 candidates in the local level election, 123, 783 candidates (85.4 per cent) have not submitted their expenditure details within the stipulated time frame.

EC’s Spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Paudel said that the commission had started the process of taking action against the candidates who hadn’t furnished their expenditure details within the stipulated time. Issuing a statement on Tuesday, Poudel said the EC had directed the 123,783 flouting candidates to furnish written clarification at their respective district election offices within seven days.

According to Poudel, the EC has decided to seek clarifications from 115,131 candidates (79.4 per cent), who hadn’t furnished their expenditure details within the stipulated period and 8,652 candidates who submitted their election expenditure details only after the stipulated period.

The EC has also published the names of those candidates on its official website.

As per the Election Commission Act, all candidates are required to submit the details of their election expenses to their respective district election office or provincial election office within 30 days of the publication of the election results.

As per the existing law, those who fail to furnish expenditure details will be disqualified to become candidates for six years.