This is why more than 500,000 youths can’t vote

KATHMANDU: Around 500,000 young people will be denied the right to vote in the State Assembly and House of Representatives elections on Nov 20.

With the announcement of the election date by the government, approximately 500,000 youth over the age of 18 will be denied the right to vote.

According to Ministry of Home Affairs data, 680,533 young people had yet to obtain citizenship as of Falgun (February/March) last year. Around 500,000 of them are over the age of 18.

They will be unable to vote in the House of Representatives and State Assembly elections on Nov 20. Registration of names on the voter list has been halted since the announcement of the election date.

The Citizenship Bill, which was passed by both Houses of Parliament and certified by the Speaker on Shrawan 15 (July 31), and sent to the President’s Office, Shital Niwas, has not been certified by the President. The government announced the date of the election on Thursday without going into implementing of the Citizenship Bill.

In order to vote, one must have a name in the voter’s list, for that citizenship is required, but 680,533 people who have reached the age of 16 do not have Nepali citizenship.

The Constitution of Nepal 2072, keeping the right to vote as a fundamental right, has made it mandatory to have Nepali citizenship to be named in the voter list.