Kathmandu: The Election Commission (EC) has said that Rs 3.69 billion has been returned to the Government of Nepal out of the targeted amount in the local level elections held on May 29, 2079, as per its resolve to hold ‘smart and economical’ elections.
Of the Rs 8.11 billion released by the Government of Nepal for the elections, rs 1.26 billion was spent by the EC Secretariat, Rs 35.41 billion by÷ the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (753), Rs 413.3 million by the Election Office (77), Rs 45 million by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Rs 1.45 million by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The expenditure of the local level elections has been the most economical compared to the recent elections.
According to the EC, only Rs 5.40 billion was taken from internal sources and general technical and managerial support from external sources in the local elections. A total of Rs 229,078 was spent per polling station in the election. Less than one voter spent Rs 284 in the election as compared to the last election.
The Commission has returned Rs 3.69 billion to the Government of Nepal. Of the total expenditure incurred in the local level elections 2079 BS, 20.36 percent was from the EC secretariat while the remaining amount was spent from various ministries and other offices in a decentralized manner, election commission spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Poudel said.
In the Constituent Assembly elections, 2070 BS, rs 5.98 billion was spent on internal and external sources, out of which 318,988 was spent per polling center. The cost per voter in this election was 493.
Similarly, in the local level elections, 2074 BS, a total of Rs 7.15 billion was spent on internal and external sources, while the cost per polling station was Rs 385,383 and the expenditure per voter was Rs 509.
In the elections to the House of Representatives and State Assemblies in 2074 BS, Rs 7.80 billion was spent from internal sources while only technical and managerial support was taken from external sources. The expenditure per polling station was Rs 393,834, while the expenditure per voter was Rs 506.
Overall details of the election
The EC has also made public the details of the winning parties and candidates and the number of votes received from the election. According to the EC’s advisory, the government of Nepal had fixed the date for the election to be held in a single phase on May 2, 2019, but the local level member elections were held in a single phase for the first time with the completion of the Bajura District Coordination Committee election on July 1, 2019.
A total of 17,733,723 (male voters) (8,992,010 (50.71 per cent), 8,741,530 (49.29 per cent) female voters and 183 (0.001 per cent) other voters were registered.
There were 10,756 polling stations, 21,955 polling stations, and a total of 145,013 candidates. There were 89,314 male candidates (61.59 percent) and 55,699 female candidates (38.41 percent).
A total of 35,221 posts (according to the first-past-the-post election system), 35,097 (according to the first-past-the-post election system), and 124 vacant posts (123 posts Dalit women members and one female member) have not been nominated.
Of the 390 elected unopposed, 20,631 (male) and 14,466 (41 per cent) elected (female) are elected.
(40.75 percent in the local level elections, 2074 BS) The voting percentage in this election was 70.96 percent, with 87 re-polling centers, 2.4 percent of totally invalid votes, 19 monitoring teams, 37 monitoring agencies, 5,303 percent of observers, and 79 parties registered for election purposes, 65 parties participating in the election. There were 24 parties representing at the local level, 130 types of ballot papers, six waves of small ballot papers, 64 waves of large ballot papers, and 57 types of election materials (42 management from the center, 15 from the district level).
The Commission had carried out some innovative exercises to make the conduct and management of elections more effective under the Constitution of Nepal and the prevailing laws.
Among them, the office-bearers who have been appointed to the post immediately to be a candidate for the local level members should resign, self-declare the eligibility of the candidate, resignation, pesky, arrears, etc., installation of CCTV cameras at the counting center, and monitoring by the Commission, providing election symbols of the concerned party to other parties other than national recognition, availability of two days for the nomination of candidacy, misinformation, and misinformation through social media affecting the election. Monitoring etc.
Similarly, special efforts were made by issuing voting rights to voters who have completed 18 years of age on the day before the election, monitoring by the advertising board to prevent violation of the code of conduct through advertisements, and priority to deploying human resources working at the local level in the voting process, directing political parties to ensure women’s representation in the elections, setting standards to make the polling places accessible.
