PM Karki meets Nepal President, ordinance related to new voters registration issued

Kathmandu, Sep 24 (PTI) President Ramchandra Paudel on Wednesday issued an ordinance related to an amendment to the voter registration act paving the way for names of new voters to be registered ahead of the March 2026 general election.

The development comes after Prime Minister Sushila Karki met President Paudel to discuss matters relating to the timely conduct of the general elections.

The President has issued the ordinance on Wednesday in accordance with section (1) of Article 114 of the Constitution of Nepal based on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, according to a source at the President’s Office.

The amendment to the Voter Registration Act, 2073 Bikram Samvat will pave the way to register the names of new voters for the upcoming election scheduled to be held on March 5, 2026.

Karki's meeting with President Paudel at the President House, Sheetal Niwas, came a day after the prime minister discussed preparations for the general election with the Election Commission (EC) officials here.

Karki, 73, became prime minister on September 12, ending days of political uncertainty after the ouster of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli following violent protests by youth-led Gen Z group against his government over corruption and a ban on social media.

President Paudel dissolved the House of Representatives at Karki's recommendation and announced March 5 as the date for conducting fresh elections.

“During the meeting with Paudel, Karki discussed the current political and security situation, the upcoming House of Representatives election on March 5, 2026 and the security situation prevailing in the country,” a source close to the President's Office said.

“The Election Commission will formulate an action plan to collect the names of new voters at the earliest,” said Suman Ghimire, Information Officer at the EC.

The ordinance will provide an opportunity to the younger generation to participate in the electoral process, he pointed out.

“As the election date is fixed for March 5, 2026, we will try to give voting rights to those who complete 18 years of age by March 4,” he said.

The EC will collect the names of those who are 16 years of age so that it can obtain the list of voters who complete 18 years on March 4 next year, he pointed out.

At present, Nepal has 1,81,68,000 eligible voters for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

This number will certainly go up by the time of the voting as the EC is planning to collect the names of the new voters, Ghimire added. PTI SBP NPK NPK