Nepal Begins Ballot Dispatch for March Parliamentary Elections

At the head office of the Election Commission in the capital, Kathmandu, ballot boxes are being piled up, counted and dispatched to various districts to ensure the smooth conduct of the polls.

As the Himalayan nation prepares for the parliamentary elections, the electoral body has also expedited the printing of ballot papers.

As per the latest update, over 10.9 million ballot papers have been printed so far for the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) category of Nepal's House of Representatives.

Kul Bahadur GC, Assistant Spokesperson at the Election Commission, told ANI over the phone that printing of more than 10.9 million (10,963,000) ballot papers has been completed for 88 constituencies across 37 districts so far."Altogether, 20.32 million (20,323,000) ballot papers are required for the House of Representatives' FPTP category for all 165 constituencies across the country," GC said.

"We have also completed packing of printed ballot papers for 37 districts," he added.

These districts include Dolpa, Mugu, Jumla, Kalikot, Humla, Jajarkot, Dailekh, Rukum (Paschim), Salyan and Surkhet. Printing has also been completed for Bajura, Achham, Bajhang, Doti, Dadeldhura, Darchula, Baitadi, Kailali and Kanchanpur.

Furthermore, printing and packing have been carried out for Panchthar, Ilam, Tehrathum, Bhojpur, Okhaldunga, Sunsari, Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, Solukhumbu, Khotang and Dhankuta. The remaining districts for which ballot papers have been printed and packed include Baglung, Gulmi, Jhapa, Gorkha, Myagdi, Parbat, Bardaghat, Susta Paschim, and Nawalparasi.

According to the Election Commission, printing of ballot papers for constituencies in the remaining districts is currently underway at the Janak Education Materials Centre in Sano Thimi, Bhaktapur.

Ballot papers for both the Proportional Representation (PR) and FPTP categories are being printed at the state-owned printing entity.

Printing of ballot papers under the FPTP electoral system began on January 6. More than one million sample ballot papers were printed and dispatched to various districts in the first phase, the EC said. Printing under the PR system began on January 10, and by January 27, more than 20.83 million ballot papers had been printed, verified, and made ready for dispatch, the EC informed.

- ANI