National
After pressure, EC to go to local level for voter listing
The Election Commission on Tuesday decided to expand the voter list update campaign to the local units while continuing the process at the regional and district election offices, following pressure from the parties.The Election Commission on Tuesday decided to expand the voter list update campaign to the local units while continuing the process at the regional and district election offices, following pressure from the parties.
The electoral roll update is for provincial and federal parliamentary elections which have to be held by January 21, 2018. The EC has proposed holding the elections, as well as those for the National Assembly, by the third week of November.
The voter list update process has been ongoing at the DEOs since July 16. The poll authority was supposed to conclude it by July 30. The extended updates will be held from July 31 to August 16.
According to the new decision, the ongoing registration process will continue until the election dates are announced. The law requires the updating process to be stopped once the election date is announced. The EC has proposed amendment to the Electoral Rolls Act in order to be able to carry on enrolment further.
The commission also decided to run the Other District Registration (ODR) system under which a voter can be enrolled from another district. The ODR will be conducted at the regional and district election offices until the polls dates are announced.
Major political parties Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) had urged the EC to extend the deadline for voter registration and to reach the local federal units for the process.
“The growing crowd of people for registration also encouraged us to go to every local unit,” said EC Spokesperson Surya Sharma.