Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Barring a few minor incidents, voting in the House of Representatives election concluded peacefully and enthusiastically across the country today.
Polling began at 7 am as scheduled by the Election Commission (EC) and ended at 5:00 pm. Voters, who were already in the queue before 5 pm, were allowed to vote. “Although the official voting time ended at 5 pm, voters who were already in line at polling stations would still be allowed to cast their ballots,” said Election Commissioner Janaki Kumari Tuladhar.
According to the EC, polling has not been officially declared suspended in any polling station. Minor disputes that occurred in Dolakha, Sarlahi, and Rautahat were resolved. Voting, which had been briefly halted earlier, is still ongoing in Malu of Tamakoshi-4 of Dolakha, it said.
A total of 3,406 candidates from 65 political parties and independent candidates are contesting under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system. Similarly, 3,135 candidates are in the race under the proportional representation (PR) system. Elections were held for 165 constituencies under the FPTP system and 110 under the PR system.
A total of 18,903,689 voters are registered for this election, including 9,663,358 men, 9,240,131 women, and 200 from the “other” category. In addition, 186,142 temporary voters have been registered.
For the election, 10,967 polling stations with 23,112 polling centres were set up across the country. A total of 143 temporary polling stations were also established. Priority arrangements were made to facilitate voting for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, the infirm, and pregnant women.
To ensure security during the election, 79,727 personnel from the Nepal Army, 75,797 from the Nepal Police, 34,567 from the Armed Police Force Nepal, 1,921 from the National Investigation Department Nepal, and 149,090 temporary election police were deployed.
