Ballot papers for 55 constituencies under the first-past-the-post system have been printed for the upcoming House of Representatives elections. Proportional representation ballots had already been printed. The Election Commission (EC) has said all ballots will be printed by February 23.

According to Prakash Neupane, joint spokesperson for the commission, six million ballots for 55 constituencies out of 165 have been printed as of Wednesday evening. Printing of first-past-the-post ballots began after proportional ballots were completed on January 26.

Ballots are being printed under tight security by the Nepali Army at Janak Education Material Centre in Bhaktapur. The proportional ballot, printed on white paper in black ink, features 58 election symbols. A total of 20.8 million proportional ballots have been printed. There are 18,930,689 registered voters nationwide. Neupane said proportional ballots have already been packed and are ready for distribution to districts.

A total of 3,406 candidates are contesting under the first-past-the-post system, with five to 45 candidates in each constituency. Ballot sizes vary according to the number of candidates. First-past-the-post ballots, printed on white paper with red election symbols, include symbols of political parties as well as independent candidates. The target is to print 20.3 million ballots under this system.

The EC said about 1.3 million ballots are being printed daily. Once printing is complete by February 23, distribution will begin the following day. Companies are being selected through a tender process to manage the distribution.

Proportional and first-past-the-post ballots will be sent together. In mountainous districts including Humla, Dolpa, Mugu, Manang and Mustang, ballots will be transported by Nepali Army helicopters. Other election materials are scheduled for distribution starting February 13.

Under election law, symbols of parties represented in the previous House are placed on proportional ballots according to the votes they received. Other registered parties and independent candidates follow in order of registration.

In the 2022 election, the CPN-UML received the highest proportional votes, followed by the Nepali Congress, the then-Maoist Centre (now part of NCP), Rastriya Swatantra Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, JSP-Nepal and Janamat Party. Other parties receiving votes included the Loktantrik Samajabadi Party (now merged with JSP-Nepal), Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party and Rastriya Janamorcha, among others.