Along with Sabrina and Prasan Kumar, 45 other students of Shuvatara School of Lalitpur were present at the Electoral Education and Information Center located at Kanti Path. The center was recently established in the Election Commission’s (EC) premises, and according to Komal Dhamala, the Acting Director of the Commission, this is the second center in the world, the first one being in Australia.
The Electoral Education and Information Center has been educating and giving information since May 24, 2012. Students from different schools who are coming of age to legally vote are brought here to be given information about how to vote and who to vote for.
“Everyday, two to three groups come in to get the information on the voting,” informed Pramila Koirala, a teacher at the EC’s Electoral Education and Information Center.
Along with the information, students can also visit the museum in the Election Commission’s premises. In the museum, one can see the ballot box used during the first election in Nepal’s history with different paraphernalia used during an election, and also information about different people.
“This museum has a lot of history related to the elections, and students can learn a lot,” said Sapana Khand of the Commission.
A documentary on election is also available for the students. The 19-minute short film shows how the election tradition started in Nepal, and also includes historical instances regarding the process.
After the documentary’s screening this time, the students entered a large modern room where computer screens awaited them with information about elections. The information was given through the medium of games while some had to be answered directly.
After the quizzing round, students were then ushered to the main attraction of the centre. Here, they were told about the electoral voting techniques that were being prepared. Training Officer Surya Prasad Aryal and Koirala informed the students about the preparation for elections and the methods of voting. The students also experienced how an election is actually conducted.
This technique is different from the one that is in practice in Nepal today. In this electoral voting system, the voter need not stamp his name in the name list. The technique was used in Area No. 1 only in Kathmandu for the election to the last Constituent Assembly (CA). In this system, two machines are used, namely, the control unit and the ballot unit.
The purpose of the control unit is to give permission to the voter to cast his vote. This unit is controlled by the Chief Election Officer. Once the voter is recognized as qualified to vote, the control unit’s red button is pressed after which a siren is sounded. The voter is then allowed to vote.
Now the person will proceed to the ballot unit, a machine used for voting. The ballot unit will have buttons (one, two, three, etc) according to which the voter will vote for their favorite candidate and the same process continues with the next person in line.
Using this process will also give out the result of the election in less than a minute.
“Using this technology will minimize election frauds and the results will remain in the records for another 10 years,” said Aryal.
After the voting, the students got their results immediately. The candidate with the Mango sign received nine votes; Okra got 13 and Carrot 29 votes. In total, 51 votes were registered. “We’ll continue to give information and educate students the same way,” informed Aryal.
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