KATHMANDU: The Election Commission has urged voters to participate enthusiastically and actively in the House of Representatives election.
Organizing a press conference in Kathmandu on Wednesday on the eve of the election, the Commission stated that all preparations for the polls have been completed and called on voters to take part in the democratic exercise.
Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said the Commission remains committed to fulfilling its constitutional responsibility of conducting a free, fair, transparent, and credible election.
He informed that ballot papers, ballot boxes, and other essential election materials have already been delivered to all polling centers for voting scheduled from 7 am to 5 pm on March 5 across the country.
Bhandari said necessary security arrangements have been made to ensure that voters can cast their ballots for their preferred candidates and political parties without obstruction.
Stating that elections are not merely a process to elect representatives or form a government but also a constitutional practice to renew democratic legitimacy, he appealed to citizens to exercise their voting rights.
He added that efforts will be made to collect ballot boxes promptly after voting concludes, and preparations are underway to publish the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) results within 24 hours. He clarified that existing provisions regarding ballot box security remain unchanged.
Bhandari also expressed confidence that the growing enthusiasm among voters could lead to a higher voter turnout and a lower percentage of invalid votes.
A total of 3,406 candidates are contesting under the FPTP system, while 3,135 candidates are competing under the proportional representation (PR) system.
There are 18,903,689 registered voters in this election, including 9,663,358 men, 9,240,131 women, and 200 others.
For the election, 10,967 polling stations and 23,112 polling centers have been designated across the country.
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