 KIRAN PANDAY |
After a successful experiment with the EVMs in Kathmandu constituency 1 during the CA elections in April last year, the Election Commission had decided to go digital this time. "Electronic voting is more cost-effective, efficient and prevents rigging," says election commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety.
The by-elections will be conducted in Dhanusha-5, Morang-5 and 7, Kaski-1, Kanchanpur-4 and Rolpa-2. There are 139 candidates representing various political parties including 54 independents.
Uprety says political and technical preparations are complete and campaigning, voters' education, supervision of the code of conduct in the constituencies began this week. Officials and volunteers have started visiting door to door with dummy voting machine for training voters on the use of the machines.
The EC received 197 ballot units and 676 control units required for this election were gifted by India. A single ballot unit can accommodate the serial number, names of 16 candidates and their election symbols. When there are more than 16 candidates, two EVMs are connected.
Single ballot unit will be used in Rolpa-2 and Kanchanpur-4, double ballot units for Morang-5, 7 and Kaski-1 and triple ballot units for Dhanusha-5, where there 46 candidates. There are altogether 490 poll centres.
The EC has barred public office bearers including ministers and chairman and deputy chair of the CA from being involved in publicity campaigns. It has raised concerns of political parties but the EC is committed to enforce the code of conduct to make the election free, fair and credible by avoiding possible misuse of government resources. However, they can visit the election constituencies as common citizens.
To make the election fair, the EC has made citizenship certificates mandatory for voters. The political parties had asked the EC either to introduce voters' identity cards or check their citizenship certificates to avoid possible rigging in the polls. However, the political parties had mixed opinion on the EC?s decision. Chure Bhawar Rastriya Ekta Party and Sadbhabana Party, among others, present at a meeting with the EC on Monday had said making citizenship certificate mandatory for voting could deprive some genuine voters from their right to vote.
The EC has asked the political parties to educate the voters to bring along their citizenship certificates for exercising their franchise. The EC has asked school teachers in the villages to participate in educating voters about the use of EVMs.
"This is a learning process," says Uprety, "we will take feedback from this election, and then we can go nationwide in future elections."
