KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 8
The Election Commission (EC) has reported that more than 10.9 million ballot papers have been printed so far for the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) category of the House of Representatives (HoR) elections scheduled for March 5.
Kul Bahadur GC, Assistant Spokesperson at the EC, told RSS that a total of 10,963,000 ballot papers have been printed for 88 constituencies across 37 districts to date. Altogether, 20.32 million (20,323,000) ballot papers are required for the FPTP category covering all 165 constituencies nationwide.
GC confirmed that the packing of ballot papers for the 37 districts has already been completed.
According to the EC, printing and packing have been finalised for districts including Dolpa, Mugu, Jumla, Kalikot, Humla, Jajarkot, Dailekh, Rukum (Paschim), Salyan and Surkhet. Similarly, ballot papers have been printed for Bajura, Achham, Bajhang, Doti, Dadeldhura, Darchula, Baitadi, Kailali and Kanchanpur.
Printing and packing have also been completed for Panchthar, Ilam, Tehrathum, Bhojpur, Okhaldhunga, Sunsari, Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, Solukhumbu, Khotang and Dhankuta. The remaining districts where ballot papers have been printed and packed include Baglung, Gulmi, Jhapa, Gorkha, Myagdi, Parbat and Bardaghat Susta Paschim Nawalparasi.
The EC stated that ballot papers for the remaining constituencies are currently being printed at the Janak Education Materials Centre in Sano Thimi, Bhaktapur. Ballot papers for both the Proportional Representation (PR) and FPTP categories are being produced at the state-owned printing facility.
Printing of FPTP ballot papers began on January 6. More than one million sample ballot papers were printed and dispatched to various districts in the first phase.
Printing under the PR system began on January 10, and by January 27, over 20.83 million ballot papers had been printed, verified and made ready for dispatch, the constitutional body said.
(With input from Rastriya Samchar Samiti)