Voter turnout in Nepal’s parliamentary elections reached 10.18 percent by 11am on Thursday, according to Election Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai.

Earlier, the commission had said around six percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 9:30am.

Voting is continuing smoothly across the country with only minor incidents reported, Election Commissioner Sagun Shumsher Rana told the Post.

Nepal Police also said the overall situation remains peaceful. Police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle said minor disagreements had occurred at a few locations but no serious problems had been reported.

“Some jostling is expected during elections, but no major issues have arisen. We are ensuring that the voting process remains peaceful throughout the day,” Kafle said.

A brief dispute was reported in Sarlahi-4, while in Katari-3 of Udayapur, a police firearm was accidentally discharged at the Tavakhola (Kha) polling centre, causing minor damage to a ballot box containing three votes. Polling resumed quickly at both locations.

Voting was also temporarily halted at the Malu polling centre in ward 4 of Tamakoshi Rural Municipality, Dolakha, after a dispute over the seating of candidate representatives led to an attempt to assault polling staff.

Police fired a warning round to control the situation. Authorities said efforts are underway to restore order and resume voting, and a meeting of all parties is currently underway to facilitate the process.

A total of 18,903,689 voters are eligible to elect 275 members of the House of Representatives, an increase of 915,119 compared to the 2022 elections. Around 52 percent of voters are aged between 18 and 40.

There are 6,541 candidates contesting the elections. Under the first-past-the-post system, 3,406 candidates, including 1,143 independents, are competing for 165 seats. For the 110 proportional representation seats, 3,135 candidates are listed under 63 political parties.

The Election Commission has set up 23,112 polling centres across 10,963 polling stations and deployed 341,113 security personnel, including 149,000 temporary election police.

The commission aims to publish results under the first-past-the-post system within 24 hours after vote counting begins.