Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Election Commission (EC) has announced that people with a National ID can now register in the voter list without visiting election offices.
According to the EC, the national identity card database has been successfully integrated with the voter roll system. With this new system, individuals who possess a National ID number can complete voter registration online without needing to visit the election office for biometric verification or to take photographs. So far, people were able to register their details in the EC’s system but were required to visit EC offices to provide their biometric information.
As per the direction of Prime Minister Sushila Karki, the Department of National ID and Civil Registration has started providing its biometric data to the EC.
The EC has already registered more than 200,000 new voters since the announcement of the House of Representatives election for March 5. However, the surge in online applications has caused heavy traffic on the EC’s website. EC offices have also been witnessing a heavy footfall of people coming to provide their biometric details. EC officials say the integration will help ease the crowd to some extent.
The deadline for voter registration for the upcoming elections has been set for November 16.
