Kathmandu, May 21 Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal today thanked officials of the Election Commission for successfully holding the first phase of local level elections. Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav; commissioners Narendra Dahal, Ishwori Prasad Paudel, and Sudhir Kumar Shah; and Secretary Gopinath Mainali had reached the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar to meet him today. According to Secretary Mainali, PM Dahal and the EC commissioners reviewed the first phase of the elections. Chief Election Commissioner Yadav and other commissioners also briefed the Prime Minister on the preparations for the second phase of the local level elections scheduled to be held in 41 districts of Province 1, 2, 5 and 7 on June 14. “The Prime Minister thanked us all for successfully holding the first phase of elections, and we too congratulated him, as elections were held with collective efforts of the government and the EC,” said Secretary Mainali. He said that the EC had already expedited preparations for the second phase of polls. The EC also said that it had already printed ballot papers, voter identity cards, and updated the voter list for the second phase of elections. “We have already dispatched all electoral materials, including electoral rolls, ballot papers, voters identity cards to the districts,” said Mainali. Mainali further said that the EC had already completed voter education training and deployed social workers and volunteers to educate the voters. EC Spokesperson Surya Prasad Sharma said social workers and volunteers would visit every households and impart voting techniques to the voters. The polls panel said that two per cent of the total votes cast during the first phase of civic polls were invalid. Sharma informed that the office of chief election officer had already opened in all 41 districts, where the second phase of elections is scheduled to be held on June 14. According to him, the Office of the returning officers will be opened within May 29 in all remaining 461 local levels for the second phase of elections.