Around 900,000 names have been added to the voters’ list since the last parliamentary elections were held in 2017, officials said as the Election Commission wraps up the updating process.

The commission stopped registering new voters after President Bidya Devi Bhandari, upon the recommendation of the Cabinet, dissolved the House of Representatives on December 20 and announced snap polls on April 30 and May 10.

“With over 90,000 new voters added, we now have over 16.3 million people on the voters’ list,” said Raj Kumar Shrestha, spokesperson for the commission.

Provisions for a cut-off date for voters’ registration were made in the voters’ registration law to give enough time for the election body to prepare for polls, rather than spend time on processing data related to the registration of voters under a tight schedule.

As per Section 4 of the Voters’ Registration Act-2017, no new voters can be registered once dates for elections are announced.

A total of 15.42 million people were on the voters’ list ahead of the previous federal and provincial elections.

During the process to update the voters’ list, voters are given the opportunity to rectify errors on the list and make claims and counterclaims. The updated list is made public at the local government’s offices to check if there are any claims over the updated list.

The commission said it has started receiving feedback, claims and counterclaims over the updated list. “After we stop receiving claims and counterclaims, we will be able to confirm the exact number of people on the list,” said Shrestha.

However, all those registered won’t not be automatically eligible to cast their ballots in the upcoming elections. As per the law, one can get registered on the voters’ list after crossing 16 years of age, but one can be eligible to vote only after completing 18 years of age. Voters’ registration continues throughout the year until the election dates are announced.

The commission will now start identifying eligible voters. Based on the voters’ list, voters’ identity cards will be printed and distributed to eligible voters.

Meanwhile, experts and observers said the sudden announcement of elections could deprive a large number of people from casting their ballot as many people eligible to vote might not have felt the urgency to register themselves.

“People usually have the tendency to register their names on voters’ list in the last hour. Many people eligible to vote might not have registered thinking that the elections would be held five years after the last elections,” Bhojraj Pokharel, former chief election commissioner told the Post in a recent interview.

The next general elections were supposed to be held in 2022, but the President announced the mid-term elections in early 2021.