Voting underway across the country

KATHMANDU: People across the country are voting to select their representatives for the House of Representatives and seven province assemblies.

According to the Election Commission, voting began at 7 am in all 77 districts and will continue till 5 pm. Altogether 17.98 million people are eligible to vote in the election.

This is the second general election since the adoption of the republican federal system and promulgation of the new constitution. The first general election after the promulgation of the new constitution was held in 2017.

Likewise, the country held its second local body election earlier in March.

Four ballot papers
Voters will have to put ‘swastik’ mark on four ballot papers – first to elect members of the House of Representatives under first past the post (FPTP), second to elect members of the House of Representatives under proportionate representation (PR), third to elect members of province assembly under FPTP and the fourth to elect members of the province assembly under PR voting.

Over 246,000 polling staff
The Election Commission has arranged 22,227 polling centers at 10,892 polling stations. Likewise, about 450,000 temporary voters are participating in proportionate representation (PR) voting at 141 temporary polling stations. More than 246,000 staff and nearly 300,000 security personnel have been deployed across the country to conduct the election.

10,859 candidates
A total of 10,859 candidates – 7,655 male, 3,203 female and one third-gender – are contesting the election. Of them 2,492 are contesting the election for the House of Representatives under FPTP voting, while another 2,199 are in the fray under PR voting.

Likewise, 3,234 candidates are in the fray for province assembly elections under FPTP voting. There are 3,708 PR candidates in the election for the province assembly.

Total seats up for grabs
As many as 87 political parties are participating in FPTP voting, while 47 are participating in PR voting. Altogether 275 seats – 165 FPTP and 110 PR – are up for grabs in the election for the House of Representatives. Similarly, there are altogether 550 seats – 330 FPTP and 220 PR – in seven province assemblies.