KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 12

"The Election Commission erred by not holding mock polls in all the villages"

Although the Election Commission appears to be fully prepared for the November 20 parliamentary and provincial polls, it has failed to complete the voter education programme on time.

As of today, the EC, in collaboration with other agencies, has conducted mock polls to educate voters only in 30 of the 77 districts.

Assistant Spokesperson for the EC Surya Prasad Aryal told THT that the EC would be able to complete the education programme four days before the polls.

Apart from using media outlets, including audio-visual, print and online media to make voters aware about the election process, the EC is also holding concerts in all the provinces. Till today, the polls panel has already held such concerts in Dhangadi and Surkhet. By November 16, the EC plans to hold such concerts in Pokhara, Butwal, Itahari, Hetauda, Chitwan, and Kathmandu.

Election observer Professor Kapli Shreshta said the EC should have focused on door-to-door programme to educate voters. "The EC appears to be giving importance to electronic message to educate voters, but educating voters in their community through volunteers and school going kids would be more meaningful," he argued.

Shrestha said if the EC ran its voter education programmes effectively, voters would be more aware about the significance of their votes, the need for sanctity of the electoral process, and that would be good for democracy in the long run.

Shrestha also said sensitized voters could easily discourage those parties and candidates that wanted to entice voters and influence the voting process unfairly.

The poll panel should have sought help from non-governmental organisations and teachers to educate voters. If door-to-door programmes cannot be held for reasons of resources crunch or for any other reason, volunteers can conduct voter education programmes in every village, he argued.

Former chief election commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety said door-to-door voter education programme would be most effective in making voters aware about the voting process.

He said the EC could carry out such programmes by deploying its employees to each ward and those employees could be supported by political parties' representatives and local government employees, particularly those that work for the Health Department.

He said the EC could carry out voter education programmes effectively if it informed the public in advance about the time and date government employees and volunteers would visit each household to make them aware of the voting process.

Chair of Nepal Voters' Rights Forum Bhakta Bishwakarma said that the EC erred by not holding mock polls in all villages. Voter education is an important tool for reducing invalid vote percentage.

A version of this article appears in the print on November 13, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.