Deposit (politics)

A deposit is a sum of money that a candidate must pay in return for the right to stand for election to certain political offices, particularly seats in legislatures.

In the typical case, the deposit collected is repaid to the candidate after the poll, if that candidate obtains a specified proportion of the votes cast. The purpose of this system is to reduce the prevalence of 'fringe' candidates or parties with no realistic chance of winning a seat.

In Australia, a deposit of $1000 is required for a candidate for the lower house, and $2000 for a candidate for the upper house. The deposit is refunded if the candidate or group gains 4% of the first preference votes.

In Canada, a candidate for Member of Parliament must place a $1,000 deposit. Formerly, failure to reach a set percentage of the vote, either 10% or 15% depending on the era, led to the loss of the deposit.

At present, all candidates receive their deposit back if they turn in their properly completed financial paperwork on time, and a portion of election expenses are reimbursed if 10% is reached. Nevertheless, the phrases "lose one's deposit" and "get one's deposit back" are still commonly heard in political circles.

Each list of candidates for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong is subject to a deposit of HK$50,000 for a geographical constituency, and HK$25,000 for a "functional constituency". Deposits are forfeit if the list (or candidate) fails to receive at least 3% of the valid votes cast in the constituency. For District Council elections, the deposit amount is HK$3000.

In the Republic of India, candidates for election to the lower house of the parliament – Lok Sabha – must pay a security deposit of ₹ 25000. For state assembly elections the amount is ₹ 10000. For Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes candidates the amounts are 12500 and 5000 respectively. A defeated candidate will forfeit his deposit and bail rights if he polls less than one-sixth of the total valid votes cast in a first-past-the-post voting system.

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