KATHMANDU, Feb 1: Election Commission (EC) has completed printing 3 million First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) or direct election ballot papers for the House of Representatives (HoR) election scheduled for March 21.
According to Joint Secretary Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, the ballots have been printed for 25 districts, and the process is proceeding according to the election schedule. “The printing work for the FPTP system in these districts has been fully completed. We are on track and working within the electoral timeline,” he said.
Bhattarai, who is also EC Spokesperson, added that the EC is printing ballots at a rate of approximately 1.2 million to 1.5 million per day. “So far, 3 million ballots for the direct election have been printed. Printing will continue to meet the remaining demand.”
In addition to the FPTP ballots, EC has also completed printing ballots for the Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system. A total of 28.3 million proportional representation ballots have been printed so far.
“The ballot printing process is progressing smoothly and will be completed well ahead of the polls,” Bhattarai said, emphasizing the EC’s efforts to ensure timely distribution and smooth election preparations.
HoR election: Over 10.9 million ballot papers printed for FPTP...
EC has been accelerating its printing operations to avoid delays and guarantee that all ballots are delivered to polling centers before March 5. With around 17 million FPTP ballots still left to be printed nationwide, EC is working continuously to meet the statutory deadline and ensure that voters across the country can cast their ballots without any disruption.
On Saturday, EC made public sample ballot papers for various districts and electoral constituencies as a part of its ongoing preparation.
EC released the sample ballot papers covering all seven provinces, aiming to support voter education ahead of the election.
Two types of ballot papers have been designed—one for districts with a single electoral constituency and another for those with multiple constituencies, said Bhattarai.
The size of the ballot paper depends on the number of candidates contesting in each constituency.
The constituencies with a larger number of candidates will have comparatively bigger ballot papers, while those with fewer candidates will have smaller ones.
Kathmandu district has the highest number of constituencies—ten in total—it will feature the largest ballot paper in the country.
In contrast, districts with only one constituency, including Salyan, Dolpa, Mugu, Jumla, Kalikot, Humla, Jajarkot, Rukum (Paschim), Bajura, Bajhang, Doti, Darchula, Baitadi, and Dadeldhura, will use smaller-sized ballot papers.
The EC has also unveiled samples of the actual ballot papers to be used in these districts.
Meanwhile, the Commission, a constitutional body responsible for conducting and overseeing elections, has already published ballot papers for the election to be held under the proportional representation category.
