One-week window for voter registration mooted

KATHMANDU, Aug 14: The Voter Registration Committee (VRC) headed by Election Commissioner Ayodhi Prasad Yadav has suggested to the Election Commission (EC) to provide a maximum one-week window period for voters who are yet to be registered in the new electoral rolls with photo and biometrics.



The committee has come up with the suggestion at a time when various political parties have been demanding that the EC provide another chance for voter registration for the Constituent Assembly (CA) election scheduled for November 19. [break]



“We have proposed not to provide more than a one-week window period for voter registration as the schedule is very tight,” Commissioner Yadav told Republica.

According to him, the committee had earlier proposed only five more days for voters who are yet to register in the new electoral rolls.



Asked when the commission would take a decision on providing another chance for voter registration, Yadav said, “The EC must decide the issue tomorrow (Thursday).”

Talking to Republica, Chief Election Commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety said that the committee is yet to formally table the proposal on a window period.

“The commission will take the necessary decision on the issue after seeing the progress made in talks between the government and disgruntled political parties,” said an EC official on condition of anonymity.



At a meeting with Chairman of the Interim Election Council Khil Raj Regmi on August 4, top EC officials including the chief election commissioner had said that the commission has been studying how legal, technical and administrative difficulties could be resolved for providing another chance for voter registration.

The High Level Political Committee (HLPC) on August 2 had formally requested the constitutional body to provide another chance for missing voters to be registered in the new electoral rolls.



EC officials have been stating that it would be a tough job for the constitutional body as the calendar of events and the program for the proportional representation and first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral systems have already come into force.

The EC has registered 12.3 million voters in the new electoral rolls with photo and biometrics over the last three years. It had concluded the voter registration on July 15.

The constitutional body has already set mid-July of this year as the cutoff date for eligible voting age for purposes of the upcoming CA election.

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