Nepal General Elections 2017: Successful Participation of Citizens, Parties and Voters Observed

Nepal Election Commission (EC) and related agencies drew a wide appreciation from the election observation body for free and fair execution of the recently-concluded Nepal General Election 2017.

In an official press release on December 12, 2017, the agencies lauded political parties, voters and citizens for their successful participation in the parliamentary and provincial elections held on November 26, 2017 and December 7, 2017, respectively.

The presence and participation of senior citizens, women, as well as differently-able people were equally encouraging, read an official statement.

The election observation body comprises of General Election Observation Committee (GEOC), National Election Observation Committee (NOEC) and Inclusive Women Network for Peace, Justice and Democracy (Sankalp).

Observation Teams Across Polling Centers

All the observation teams contributed their best to the fair conduction of electoral process.

While NEOC deployed a total of 3,743 trained observers, Sankalp had set up 910 observers followed by GEOC (800 observers) in both the first and second phase of elections.

Besides, these teams also deployed mobile observer and election expert teams across the sensitive polling centers to ensure free and fair electoral process.

In addition to these, NEOC had alsomobilized 165 long-term observers for data-based observation of both the election phases.

Besides deploying teams across the districts, the observation body had also set up call centers to avoid discrepancies in the polling process.

EC Promises Met 

On the flip side, the elections also reported violation of election code of conduct despite strict arrangements by EC.

“In many places use of pamphlets and campaign materials were found to be in violation of the code of conduct.  Data received from NEOC Call Center state that in 82 polling centers observed campaign materials were found within the 300-meter perimeter of the polling centers. Moreover, there were activities aimed at influencing voters outside 12 polling centers,” read a statement.

Overall, 99.60 percent (1307) of the polling centers had a minimum 6-member staff as promised by EC, 99.20 percent (1301) had clearly-marked ballot boxes, 0.40 percent (5) centers reported lack of necessary election material and 0.50 percent (6 centers) saw confidentiality failure, informed the observers.