KATHMANDU, May 14: Election Commission has expected that 80 percent of the total voters will turn out in the first phase of local level elections.
Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav said around 80 percent of the total voters in 283 local units of the three provinces will cast votes. “Voter turn out is very encouraging from early in the morning. We estimate up to 80 percent of the voters will cast their votes by the time the voting concludes at 5 pm,” CEC Yadav told Republica Online.
By the time when the news was prepared 42 percent of the voters have already cast their votes.
The voting is underway in an enthusiastic and peaceful manner across the country. The voters in the Bhaktapur district seem eager to cast their votes in the local level election that is taking place in 20 years.
Bhaktapur denizens are queuing up since 7 am for their turns to cast their votes, without caring searing heat.
Voters from women to the elderly and physically challenged are eargerly taking part in the local level elections.
The ballot paper which is large in size, cumbersome in folding and has multiple boxes to be marked on has made the voting process a bit complicated for the voters.
It took more time than the permitted one for the experienced voters who had voted earlier.
According to returning officers deployed in various polling stations, even the experienced voters took more than seven minutes to vote.
The elderly, those with low level of education and illiterate voters took more time than the time allowed by the Election Commission (EC).
Similarly, those voters from rural areas took more time, said on duty officers.
It took around seven minutes for the senior voters to cast their votes, said returning officer Rajesh Regmi.
It took around two minutes for the youths and the literate people to cast votes, said he.
According to the returning officer deployed in Pokhara-Lekhnath Metropolitan City-8, it took around five minutes for the elderly and three minutes for youths.