KATHMANDU, APRIL 4

The Election Commission today started printing ballot papers for local polls slated for May 13.

EC Spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Paudel said at a press briefing that the poll panel would print 77 types of ballot papers for 753 local levels.

Although 17,733,000 voters will exercise franchise in local polls, the Election Commission will print 19,400,000 ballot papers keeping in mind the need for additional ballot papers required at some places.

As a rule, the EC prints eight to 25 per cent additional ballot papers.

Paudel said the EC sent more percentage of stock ballot papers to remote areas, such as Manang, Mustang, and Humla district, keeping in mind the high transportation costs that sending additional ballot papers entail.

Ballot papers for Kathmandu would be the longest, with 56 rows each, whereas ballot papers for Dolpa district would be the shortest with only 16 rows. Paudel said the EC would first print ballot papers for remote areas before printing the ones for easily accessible areas.

Political parties seeking copies of voter list can obtain electronic copies from the central office of the Election Commission or its district offices.

A political party that seeks nationwide voter-list will have to pay a fee of Rs 7,000, whereas for a province-wise voter list, the party will have to pay Rs 5,000.

A political party or a candidate seeking district-wise or municipality-wise voter list will have to pay a fee of Rs 3,000 or Rs 1,000, as the case may be.

For ward level voter list data, a political party or a candidate will have to pay Rs 1,000. Local polls will elect more than 40,000 representatives.

A version of this article appears in the print on April 5, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.