The Election Commission has extended the voter registration deadline by five days in response to a significant rise in applicants. On Friday, the 14th of November, Election Commissioner Sagun Shumsher JB Rana announced that the new deadline for voter registration is November 21.
The commission had initially fixed November 16 as the final date to register for the House of Representatives election slated for March 5.
Previously, Prime Minister Sushila Karki had urged the poll authority to push the deadline forward. Her secretariat said she spoke with Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari and requested him to provide more time for registration.
Karki also sought clarification regarding technical problems occurring in the commission’s servers.
Bhandari said the team was working to address the issues.
Prime Minister Karki cited the exceptionally high footfall at registration centres as the reason for her request. Karki’s office requested the commission to start the registration process in multiple shifts and to integrate data from the Department of National ID, which removes biometric redundancy.
From 13th November, the commission began enrolling applicants using their National ID details. Within 24 hours of integrating biometric data from the NID servers, around 38,000 new voters were registered, the commission reported.
In a meeting with Prime Minister Karki on Wednesday, commission officials had stated there was no need for an extension. They stated that arrangements had already been made to keep registration open for 12 hours daily from 7 am. Earlier on Monday, the prime minister’s office had asked the commission to reconsider the deadline if required.
Election laws stipulate that voter registration must stop once election dates are declared. The poll authority had also warned that extending the voter registration period could disturb the election timetable and potentially impact the polls scheduled for March 5.
However, the commission, through an ordinance amending the law, had allowed the process to continue until November 16.
According to the commission’s official report, many of its preparations depend directly on the number of registered voters. Polling centres and booths are determined based on voter count and staffing as well as security needs vary accordingly.
