Dhangadhi, July 2 

It is said that vote counting, which had halted due to a clash that erupted over fraud ballots at Punarbas Municipality, in Kanchanpur, will be recounted.

The clash had erupted among cadres of different political forces after it was found that there were more ballot papers in the box than those in the record of the returning officer. The Election Commission had directed that vote counting be continued at all the wards except the controversial ward, as per Chief Returning Officer Prakash Dhungana. “An all party meeting will be held among stakeholders before vote counting resumes,” said Dhungana.

During the vote count, there were 131 more ballot papers than in the official record.

Security personnel had to fire tear gas, besides opening fire in the air to bring the situation under control. As many as seven security personnel, including Assistant Sub-inspector Dev Bahadur Thapa of Area Police Office Tribhuvanbasti had sustained injuries during the clash when disgruntled activists hurled stones at them.

Meanwhile, vote counting at Belaka Municipality Ward-4 Udayapur has halted from 10:00pm yesterday after more ballot papers were found in the box.

According to Returning Officer Hari Pokharel at Belaka Municipality, a total of 1,748 voters cast their ballots but 1,751 votes were found in the course of counting. “With three more votes than in the official verification record, there ensued a row among party activists and counting was halted.

After the vote count came to a halt, party representatives and officials at the district headquarters deployed from the Election Commission reached the municipality.

Vote counting of Belaka Ward 1 and 2 is on, while the vote count at Wards 3 and 4 has halted, according to District Election Office, Udayapur.