Election results in two days, updates on website

KATHMANDU: Voting has begun for 41 vacant positions in local bodies. These include one chief, one deputy chief, two municipal chairpersons, four deputy chairpersons, and 33 ward chairpersons.

According to Election Commission spokesperson Nita Pokhrel Aryal, by 5:00 PM, a total of 226,799 people are expected to exercise their voting rights.

There are 376 candidates competing in this by-election from 20 political parties and independent candidates.

The Election Commission plans to release the results within two days. Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya said preparations are underway to announce the results by Dec 2.

“Necessary arrangements are being made to complete the vote counting and announce all results by December 17. If political party representatives and others cooperate, the counting will be completed on time,” he said.

The Commission has directed that votes in wards with only one polling station should be counted immediately after voting, without transporting the ballots elsewhere. “In such wards, the votes will be counted at the same location once the voting ends,” Thapaliya added.

In wards with multiple polling stations, ballots must be brought together for counting. Results from wards in Kathmandu Metropolitan City (ward no. 16) and Kirtipur will be prepared for release by midnight on the same day (12:00 AM).

For the mayor and deputy mayor positions in the places holding the by-election, results will be announced by 12:00 AM on December 17.

“We have made arrangements for the counting teams, necessary resources, and security,” Thapaliya said. “In cases where there are multiple wards, the counting will take place at the central location of the municipality. The counting for mayor and deputy mayor positions will be completed by December 17 midnight.”

In places with elections for ward chairpersons and mayor or deputy mayor, the counting will begin with the wards. Kirtipur’s mayor election and wards 1 and 4 will count the votes for the wards first.

Three positions have already been filled through consensus as there was only one candidate. Tek Raj Bhattarai from the Nepali Congress has been elected unopposed as the District Coordination Committee Chief for Okhaldhunga, and Tik Kumari Chaudhary (Bhul) from the Nepali Congress has been elected unopposed as the District Coordination Committee Chief for Kailali.

In Putha North Ganga Rural Municipality-2 in Rukum East, Jagat Gharti from the Maoist Centre has been elected unopposed as the ward chair.

Voting will only take place for the remaining 41 positions.

The Election Commission has stated that the results can be accessed on their website.