INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, APRIL 18The Election Commission has printed 95,25,000 ballot papers, almost half the number required for
the local polls slated for May 13.
4.5 million ballot papers printed
EC begins printing ballot papers for local polls
These ballot papers will be enough for 46 districts
The EC has to print 19.4 million ballot papers for the 77 districts that go to polls.
The EC has been printing ballot
papers for the remote districts first, as transporting them there in time could be a challenging task.EC Spokesperson Shaligram Sharma
Paudel said at a daily press briefing that new voters could not register their names in the voter list, as poll dates had already been
announced."The prevailing law stipulates that new voters cannot be registered after poll dates have been announced," Paudel said in response
to a journalist's query.Asked about foreign assistance in local polls, Paudel said all the expenses were being borne by the Government of
"We had held a zoom meeting with donor countries and agencies, but we did not get an encouraging commitment from them," Paudel said
He added that had donor agencies or countries committed poll assistance to Nepal, the government would have to spend less on polls
"But now the context and time for donor agencies and countries to provide poll expenses has elapsed," he added
He said foreign countries and donor agencies could still help Nepal with ballot boxes and swastika stamps.Paudel said some deliveries of
goods were behind schedule due to COVID-19 lockdown and some other problems, but that would not stop the poll panel from holding local polls
Most of the poll materials have already arrived in Nepal.Regarding complaints of poll code of conduct violation, Assistant Spokesperson for
the EC Surya Prasad Aryal told THT that CPN (Unified Socialist), CPN-Maoist Centre, and Nepali Congress leader Shashank Koirala had already
submitted their clarification and the EC would take a call on their responses."If the EC is not satisfied with their responses, it could
seek clarification from them again," he added.The poll panel had issued show cause notices to CPN (US), CPN-MC, and Shashank Koirala for
allegedly violating poll code.CPN-MC cadres had displayed the photo of Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority Kul Man Ghising,
along with photos of party leaders, during poll campaigning; Koirala had allegedly remarked that he had spent Rs 60 million in the last
parliamentary elections; and CPN (US) was accused of violating poll code during its mass meeting recently at Bhrikuti Mandap.A version of
this article appears in the print on April 18, 2022, of The Himalayan Times
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com