KATHMANDU, Oct 31: Ahead of the House of Representatives (HoR) election scheduled for March 5, the number of voters aged 18–28 eligible to cast their ballots stands at 6,341,834. Many in this group, currently aged 21, voted for the first time in the 2021 provincial and federal elections.
This election will see voters aged 18–20 casting their ballots for the first time. The number of eligible voters in this age group is 1,808,477. According to the 2021 census, Nepal’s total population is 29,164,578, with Generation Z accounting for 33.5 percent. This demographic group is expected to play a decisive role in the upcoming election.
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Following an amendment to the existing law through an ordinance, the Election Commission (EC) has urged those who missed the voter registration deadline to get their names added to the voter list by mid-November. Suman Ghimire, the EC’s information officer, said that as of Wednesday, 85,107 people had had their photos taken for registration.
Initially, the EC had estimated that five lakh new voters would be added, but Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said, “At the current pace, the number of new voters is unlikely to exceed two lakh.”
According to the EC, by November 2, the number of people turning 18 will reach 1,816,823. To account for changes after November 2 and include the latest generation of voters, the EC has allowed time until mid-November for the voter list to be updated and finalized.
