Rajbiraj, September 4

Mock polls were conducted at different places of Saptari as part of the District Election Office’s preparation for the third phase of local level elections slated for September 18 in Province 2.

District Election Office Saptari organised the mock elections with a view to reducing invalid votes. At a mock poll conducted in Saptakoshi Municipality, 78 people cast their ballots. Of all votes cast, eight were declared invalid.

Likewise, of the 65 votes cast in Khadga Municipality, 12 were found to be invalid. District Election Officer Mahesh Thakur said of the 60 votes cast in Rajbiraj Municipality, 14 and three votes were declared partly and fully invalid. Thakur said his office was planning to start voter education effectively across the district.

Thakur said trainers had been deployed in all eight rural municipalities and as many municipalities for mock polls in the district. There are a total of 331,679 voters in the district.