At the national level Bangladesh has had eight parliamentary elections, three presidential elections and three referendums since independence (as of 2005 national elections). But many of these elections were sham, heavily rigged and invalid. However, the fifth, the seventh and the eight parliamentary  elections have enhanced democratic credibility and generated hopes among the voters about establishing democracy in Bangladesh. But goons and guns that dominate the Bangladeshi politics continue to cause serious concern.
There are many conditions, which shape the aspired politics and democratic institutions of a country like Bangladesh. Free flow of information is one such condition, which can be strengthened by research, documentation and investigative reporting on politics, candidates, electoral anomalies, violation of electoral laws, abuse of the code of conduct, and so on. With this in mind Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD), a non-profit local organization engaged in research and writing on parliamentary elections, which has resulted in the book, HANDBOOK ON ELECTION REPORTING [in English and Bangla].
The first edition of the handbook was published in 1995 and the second edition in 2001. The book has been used by journalists, election observers, research organizations, academics, students of different faculties and many others who take interest in elections and democracy.
Different sections of the handbook comprise practical guidelines for election reporting at different stages; essential background information on elections in this country, which can be helpful in writing analytical reports; thumbnail sketches of the laws and opinion polls concerning elections; covering elections for the electronic media; annexes on the containment in the constitution about the non-party caretaker government, code of conduct for the political parties and candidates, list of the constituencies with the winners and runners-up in the 1996 elections; names and contacts of the major political parties, and a list of election maladies that generally occur in the Indian elections, which may be comparable to our situation.
The handbook also puts together relevant contacts and their telephone numbers, which may be helpful for the reporters and election observers to locate different sources of information quickly.
Contributing writers: Mr. Ataus Samad, Prof. M M Akash, Prof. Sakhawat Ali Khan, Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, Mr. Obaidul Huq, Mr. Richard Galpin, Mr. Farid Hossain, Dr. Subrata Shankar Dhar, Mr. Philip Gain, Ms. Q. A. Tahmina, Mr. Shishir Moral, Mr. Muniruzzaman, Mr. Manik Saha, Dr. Mohiuddin Farooque, Ms. Rizwana Hasan, Ms. Khadiza Khanam, Mr. Alimul Hoque and Mr. Abdur Razzak Khan.
Editing by Philip Gain, Q A Tahmina and Shishir Moral
Published 1995 and 2001
282 Pages in offset Price: Taka 300 US$10
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