ELECTION BULLETIN

BANGLADESH NATIONAL ELECTION 2024

Editor: TAREQ MAHMUD

"An election held without genuine competition, free press, or the safety of its voters is not a democratic exercise. It is a performance of power."

— Media of Rural Generation

BULLETIN SUMMARY

This bulletin presents the field findings of Media of Rural Generation (MRG) on the Bangladesh National Election of 7 January 2024. It documents electoral rigging, systemic corruption, political violence, exploitation of religion, failures of inclusiveness and women's participation, a coordinated media coup, and the large-scale use of money to distort the democratic process. These findings are drawn from field documentation, witness testimonies, and verified reports gathered by Media of Rural Generation (MRG) representatives across multiple districts of Bangladesh.

1. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

The 12th National Parliamentary Election of Bangladesh, held on 7 January 2024, took place in circumstances that severely undermined its credibility as a free and fair democratic exercise. The main opposition coalition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies, boycotted the election, citing the absence of a neutral caretaker government and the impossibility of fair participation under the current administration. This left the ruling BangladeshAwami League effectively competing against independent and dummy candidates in most constituencies.

Media of Rural Generation (MRG)deployed field representatives across multiple districts to independently document the conduct of the election and its surrounding environment. Our findings reveal a deeply compromised process affecting every dimension of democratic participation.

2. ELECTORAL RIGGING: A MANUFACTURED OUTCOME

a) Ballot Stuffing and Ghost Voting

Media of Rural Generation (MRG)field teams documented instances of ballot boxes arriving at counting centers already partially filled before polling had begun. Ghost voting, where names of absent, deceased, or intimidated voters were used to cast ballots, was reported across multiple constituencies. Independent monitors were denied access to several stations where these incidents occurred.

b) Voter Turnout Fabrication

Official turnout figures released by the Election Commission were significantly inconsistent with field observations. Media of Rural Generation (MRG) monitors reported near-empty polling stations throughout the day in multiple locations, yet official figures declared turnout levels of 40 percent and above. The credibility of the Election Commission's data was widely questioned by civil society and international observers.

c) Sidelining of Independent Candidates

Even candidates contesting as independents, many of whom were widely understood to be aligned with the ruling party, reported pressure and intimidation from more powerful party-backed figures. Genuine independent candidacies faced obstruction in filing nominations, public campaigning, and access to polling centers.

3. CORRUPTION: INSTITUTIONAL ROT AND ELECTORAL ABUSE

a) Misuse of State Resources

Ruling party candidates made extensive use of government vehicles, administrative personnel, and public infrastructure for campaign activities in direct violation of electoral codes of conduct. District-level officials in several areas openly participated in campaign events on behalf of ruling party candidates during official working hours.

b) Selective Law Enforcement

Law enforcement agencies were deployed in ways that systematically favored incumbent candidates. Complaints filed by opposition-aligned individuals were routinely ignored or met with counter-complaints, while individuals associated with the ruling party faced no accountability for documented violations.

c) Procurement and Tender Manipulation

Ahead of the electionMedia of Rural Generation (MRG)received credible reports from multiple constituencies of government procurement and public tender processes being deliberately directed to contractors and businesspeople with known ruling party affiliations, as a form of pre-election reward and incentive for campaign support.

4. POLITICAL VIOLENCE: SUPPRESSION THROUGH FEAR

• Campaign workers and supporters of independent and opposition-aligned candidates were physically assaulted in at least six districts. Several required medical treatment following attacks by groups identified as ruling party affiliates.

• Voters in rural constituencies reported being warned by local power brokers not to attend polling stations or to cast votes in a specific direction under threat of economic harm or physical retaliation.

• Two Media of Rural Generation (MRG) field monitors were themselves confronted and threatened while attempting to document irregularities at polling stations. Their footage and notes were confiscated on one occasion.

• In the post-election period, individuals who had publicly supported non-ruling party candidates reported targeted harassment, eviction from local markets, and threats against their livelihoods.

5. USE OF RELIGION IN THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN

a) Communal Rhetoric at Rallies

Media of Rural Generation (MRG) documented repeated instances of campaign speeches that invoked religious identity as a basis for electoral choice. In rural constituencies particularly, voters were told through religious framing that supporting specific candidates was a matter of faith and moral duty. This kind of messaging, delivered in communities where religious authority holds deep social weight, crosses the line from political persuasion into coercion.

b) Misuse of Religious Platforms

Sermons at mosques in at least four constituencies were used to endorse ruling party candidates or to warn against voting for those perceived as secular or religiously insufficiently committed. The use of religious institutions as campaign platforms represents a serious ethical and legal violation that Media of Rural Generation (MRG) formally reported to the Election Commission without receiving any meaningful response.

c) Targeting of Religious Minorities

Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist minority communities reported a heightened sense of vulnerability during the election period. While some candidates courted minority votes instrumentally, none offered substantive commitments to minority rights or safety. Incidents of intimidation targeting minority community members were documented in three districts.

6. INCLUSIVENESS AND WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION

a) Structural Barriers to Women's Candidacy

Women candidates in the 2024 election faced a compounding set of obstacles. Beyond the reserved seats system, which has long been criticized for tokenizing rather than genuinely empowering women in politics, women who sought to contest general seats reported facing resistance within their own party structures, inadequate campaign financing, and social pressure against their candidacy in conservative constituencies.

b) Violence and Harassment Against Women Voters

Female voters in rural areas reported being discouraged by male family members and community leaders from attending polling stations. In some areas, women arriving to vote were questioned about their choices by individuals positioned near polling centers. The secret ballot was effectively compromised for many women voters operating under social and familial surveillance.

c) Marginalization of Other Vulnerable Groups

Persons with disabilities, ethnic and linguistic minorities, and residents of remote char and haor areas faced significant barriers to participation, including inaccessible polling stations, absence of accessible information, and the practical impossibility of travel. Inclusiveness in any meaningful sense was absent from the planning and conduct of this election.

7. MEDIA COUP: THE SILENCING OF INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM

a) Ownership and Editorial Capture

A significant proportion of Bangladesh's mainstream print and broadcast media is owned by individuals and conglomerates with direct financial or political ties to the ruling party. In the period surrounding the 2024 election, editorial coverage in these outlets was uniformly favorable to the government and wholly absent of critical analysis of electoral irregularities.

b) Pressure on Independent Outlets

Media organizations that attempted to report on electoral violence, rigging, or voter intimidation faced advertising withdrawal, regulatory pressure, and in several cases direct phone calls from government officials to editors requesting suppression of specific stories. Media of Rural Generation (MRG) received testimony from three journalists employed at different outlets confirming this pattern.

c) Digital Suppression and Surveillance

Social media users who shared footage or commentary critical of election conduct reported account suspensions and content removal. Several citizen journalists documented being followed and photographed by unidentified individuals after posting election-related content. The Digital Security Act continued to serve as a legal instrument of intimidation against online speech.

8. USE OF MONEY: BUYING THE VOTE

a) Direct Voter Inducement

The distribution of cash, food packages, household goods, and other material inducements to voters in exchange for electoral support was documented by Media of Rural Generation (MRG)field teams in at least seven constituencies. Amounts distributed ranged from small sums to more substantial payments in marginal or competitive areas. This practice, though illegal under Bangladeshi electoral law, proceeded without meaningful enforcement action.

b) Campaign Finance Without Transparency

Ruling party candidates consistently spent at amounts far exceeding legal campaign expenditure limits, with no accountability enforced by the Election Commission. Massive spending on posters, banners, digital advertising, and public events dwarfed anything available to independent or opposition-aligned candidates. The financial imbalance itself constituted a structural distortion of competition.

c) Business Coercion

Business owners and traders in several districts reported being pressured to make financial contributions to ruling party campaigns under implicit threat of regulatory harm, loss of licenses, or interference with their supply chains. This form of coerced political financing further blurred the boundary between electoral activity and economic extortion.

d) Infrastructure Announcements as Vote Buying

In the weeks before the election, government ministers and ruling party leaders made a series of public announcements regarding new roads, bridges, schools, and development projects in key constituencies. These announcements, many of which had no funding or implementation plan behind them, were widely understood as strategic pre-election promises designed to influence voter behavior with public resources.

9. FORMAL DEMANDS

On the basis of its field findings, Media of Rural Generation (MRG)formally demands the following:

• An independent, transparent investigation into all documented instances of rigging, ballot manipulation, and fabricated turnout figures in the 7 January 2024 election.

• Full legal accountability for political violence, including the prosecution of all perpetrators regardless of party affiliation, and guaranteed protection for victims who have come forward.

• Immediate prohibition of the use of religious institutions and communal rhetoric in electoral campaigns, backed by enforceable legal mechanisms.

• Structural reform of the Election Commission to establish genuine independence, including transparent appointment processes and enforceable campaign finance limits.

• Comprehensive review and repeal of legislation used to suppress media freedom and digital expression, including the Digital Security Act.

• A binding national framework for women's full and equal participation in electoral processes, going beyond reserved seats to address structural barriers and safety.

• Enforcement of existing laws against voter inducement and illegal campaign financing, with independent auditing of all campaign expenditures.

• Formal international monitoring with unrestricted access in all future national elections.

10. CONCLUSION

The 12th National Parliamentary Election of Bangladesh on 7 January 2024 fell critically short of the standards required of a genuine democratic exercise. Media of Rural Generation has documented rigging, corruption, violence, religious exploitation, exclusion, media suppression, and financial manipulation, each of which would alone constitute a serious democratic failure. Taken together, they describe an election that served the interests of those in power rather than the will of the people.

Media of Rural Generation (MRG) remains committed to its mission of honest, fearless documentation in the public interest. We call on all who believe in democracy, inside Bangladesh and beyond, to stand with the people of this country in demanding the free, fair, and genuinely inclusive elections they deserve.

Publication of MEDIA OF RURAL GENERATION

Azimpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Editor: Tareq Mahmud

Defending truth. Upholding democratic rights. Giving voice to the voiceless