The Election Commission has added 837,094 new voters to the rolls ahead of the March 5 snap polls as the registration closed on Friday.

While 344,914 got registered through the commission’s district offices, 492,189, who had already got national identity cards, were listed online. The total number of registered voters for the snap polls, scheduled to take place in three-and-a-half months, has now risen to 19,005,324 which is an increase of about five percent.

The commission, on September 25, opened voter registration targeting youths. Anyone who had obtained citizenship after attaining 16 years of age could get listed as a voter though only those who complete 18 years by March 4 will be allowed to cast their ballots.

Suman Ghimire, information officer at the commission, said the number can decrease after the final tally. “We will deduct those who will not attain 18 years by March 4 from the final tally,” he said. The number after verification will be published on December 6.

As many as 17,988,570 voters—9,140,806 men, 8,847,579 women and 185 from other categories—were eligible to cast their ballots in November 2022. The number rose to 18,168,230 before the election was announced on September 12.

If the current number doesn’t drop hugely, over a million new voters will be exercising their franchise for the first time in March. “We believe a majority of the newly registered voters are youth. We will soon release data segregated age-wise,” said Ghimire.

Initially, the commission had opened the registration with November 16 as the deadline. One had to travel to the nearest district election offices for the registration. However, at Prime Minister Sushila Karki’s request, the data from the Department of National ID was integrated with the commission, allowing individuals to get registered online without visiting the election offices. The deadline too was pushed by five days, giving more time for aspirants to get listed.

Voters’ number, according to officials, is the most crucial data for final election planning. The numbers of polling centres and stations, along with those of officials and security personnel needed to be deployed, largely depends on voter data.

The flow of applications for the registration of new parties has increased too. The commission received nine applications for new parties before the Gen Z protests [September 8-9] in the current fiscal year. The commission is studying applications from 33 new parties while it has already registered eight others.

To be listed as a political party, an outfit must submit its statute, flag, desired election symbol, and the signatures of at least 500 voters, among other documents. Those who have applied for new parties include businessmen, lawmakers of the dissolved House of Representatives, and social activists, among others. The registration certificates are granted after studying the necessary documents.

As per the commission’s record, the number of parties registered to participate in the House of Representatives election too is increasing day by day. As of Friday, the number has reached 40.

However, the major parties Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML have not yet applied for registration. While Congress has decided to list, the UML remains undecided. Only those parties that are registered with the commission by November 26 can participate in the elections.