Voter registration drive ends; 12.1m in new list
KATHMANDU, JUL 16 -
On the last day, over 12,000 register in Kathmandu alone, 1,100 in Bhaktapur, 1,200 in Lalitpur
Election Commission may not extend deadline
As of Saturday, 12.1 million voters were registered in the new system
The number of citizens thronging the Kathmandu District Election Office to register themselves as eligible voters reached the highest on Monday, the last day for the registration for the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections scheduled for November 19. Over 12,000 people registered themselves on Monday in Kathmandu district alone, while over 300 of them returned home with ‘confirmation slips’ as the office failed to register them due to time constraints. The office said it would “internally manage” them on Tuesday.
A total of 1,100 citizens completed the registration process in Bhaktapur, while around 400 returned home with ‘confirmation slips’ after the registration process closed at 9.30pm.
Lalitpur registered 1,200 names on the voter roll on Monday. “An additional 700 returned with confirmation slips,” said Shanta Marasini, the election officer at the Lalitpur District Election Office.
“We were not expecting such a big crowd today,” Kathmandu District Election Officer Shambhu Prasad Chalise told the Post.
The Kathmandu election office worked late until 8pm, while during the day, it had to double the number of service counters to 60 and press into service additional manpower.
Election offices in other cities across the country also witnessed huge crowds on the last day.
“We have directed the district election officers to distribute confirmation slips to those who filled in the forms but could not be registered on Monday,” Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav said.
Asked if the deadline for the voter registration process will be extended, EC officials said they will not encourage registration after Tuesday.
“The EC has its own problems as it has to complete the poll preparations as per the work plan that has been set. The current registrations have to be verified and sent to the districts of origin, which is a long process,” Chief Election Commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety told the Post.
The EC is preparing to publish the updated voter roll next week, before sending them to the local offices.
Until Saturday, the total numer of voters registered in the newly-adopted system with photo and finger prints was 12.1 million.
“All the 75 district election officers have been directed to give top priority to the completion of the voter registration process,” said EC Spokesperson Bir Bahadur Rai.
The commission has targeted registering 12.5 million voters in the new system by July 15.
Citing the 2011 census, the EC puts the number of eligible voters until February last year at 15.4 million.
The commission estimates that around 2.5 to 3 million voters are unregistered as they are currently out of the country for business, studies and employment.
Citizenship card a must, rules SC
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Election Commission (EC) and the government to not update the voter roll without the citizenship certificate for now.
A single bench of Justice Sushila Karki was responding to a petition filed by Advocate Purna Chandra Poudel on July 10, challenging the EC’s decision to register eligible voters on the basis of other documents apart from the citizenship certificate.
Poudel argued that the provision contradicts the constitutional provision that says only those who hold citizenship certificates can vote. (PR)
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