Electoral deposit

In an electoral system, a deposit is the sum of money that a candidate for an elected office, such as a seat in a legislature, is required to pay to an electoral authority before he or she is permitted to stand for election.

In the typical case, the deposit collected is repaid to the candidate after the poll if the candidate obtains a specified proportion of the votes cast. The purpose of the deposit is to reduce the prevalence of 'fringe' candidates or parties with no realistic chance of winning a seat. If the candidate does not achieve the refund threshold, the deposit is forfeited.

In Australia, a candidate for the Australian House of Representatives is required to pay a deposit of $1000, and a candidate for the Australian Senate is required to pay a deposit of $2000. The deposit is refunded if the candidate or group gains at least 4% of first preference votes in the relevant electoral division. The states have other deposit requirements and repayment thresholds.

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, would have their deposits forfeited.

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". The deposit is forfeited should the list (or candidate) fails to secure 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 5000 and 5000 respectively. A defeated candidate who fails to secure more than one-sixth of the total valid votes cast in a first-past-the-post voting system would both forfeit his or her deposit and bail rights.

...
Wikipedia