EC to conduct door-to-door voter education for Nov 20 polls

Smriti Dhungana / Kathmandu, August 11: The Election Commission (EC) has said that it will conduct door-to-door voter education programs in municipalities and rural municipalities for the upcoming elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and the provincial assemblies scheduled for November 20.

Reviewing the progress of the local level election campaign and voter education program organized by the Commission on Tuesday, the EC expressed commitment to conduct door-to-door voter education programs in municipalities and rural municipalities for the upcoming elections.

Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya expressed his concern that the voter turnout from the educated citizens of the urban areas was less than that of the uneducated citizens of the remote areas in the local level elections. “The commission expects cooperation from all parties to conduct free, fair and credible elections with the participation of as many citizens as possible by adopting the universal principles of elections and treating everyone equally,” he said.

Similarly, Surya Prasad Aryal, joint spokesperson of the EC, said, “Due to the low voter turnout in the metropolises, sub-metropolises and municipalities in the local level elections, a schedule will be set with a plan to make the voter education program effective.”

According to the schedule prepared by the EC for the upcoming elections, the closed list of the proportional election system will be submitted on September 18 and 19, nominations for the HoR and provincial assembly elections will be submitted on October 9, the final voter list will be published, and the candidates will be given election symbols on October 12 and 36 days would be given for election promotional campaigns from October 13 to November 17.