The election of House of Representatives members in Nepal has concluded peacefully across the country today. People took part in voting enthusiastically with long queues in most polling stations. The voting process started at 7 am and ended at 5 pm, with ballot boxes being sealed by officers immediately after polling time concluded. As per local reports, the disputes surfaced in Dolakha, Sarlahi and Rautahat districts but were settled very quickly. 65 political parties have contested under the first-past-the-post direct system with 61 election symbols for 165 seats. Under this system, 3,017 male candidates, 388 female candidates and one candidate from the other gender are contesting, bringing the total to 3,406 candidates. Similarly, under the proportional representation electoral system for 110 seats, 1,363 male and 1,772 female candidates, making a total of 3,135 candidates, were in the race.
The total number of voters listed by the EC stood at 10,893,689 for the election. Of them, 9,663,358 were male voters, 1,230,131 female voters and 200 belonged to other genders. The EC had set up 23,112 polling centres in 10,967 polling stations, including 143 temporary polling stations for the election. During the voting today across all the polling stations, priority was given to senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and pregnant women so that they could cast their ballots conveniently.
To ensure election security, a total of 79,727 Nepali Army personnel were mobilised, while altogether 75,797 security personnel from the Nepal Police were deployed. Similarly, 34,567 personnel from the Armed Police Force were stationed, while 1,921 officials from the National Investigation Department and 149,090 temporary election police were assigned during the election.
