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Kathmandu, November 16: The government has initiated the process of issuing an ordinance that would allow Nepali citizens living abroad—whose names are already included in the voter list—to cast their votes at polling centers designated within the embassies or missions of the respective countries. The draft ordinance prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs has been sent to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs after seeking feedback from stakeholders. Once the proposed ordinance is issued and implemented, citizens abroad will be able to cast their votes under the proportional representation (PR) electoral system.

Recently, homework has also been underway to allow individuals who are within Nepal but temporarily residing in a constituency other than their own to vote as well. Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal stated that the draft ordinance aims to ensure voting rights for both citizens abroad and those staying outside their home constituencies. “Our effort is to allow both ‘out-of-country’ as well as ‘out-of-constituency’ voters to participate in the election. We have already sent the draft ordinance to the Ministry of Law,” Aryal said.

After necessary amendments at the Law Ministry, the ordinance will be forwarded to the concerned ministry. Once approved by the Cabinet, it will proceed for issuance by the President. According to current preparations, the ordinance is expected to be finalized within the next week.

The proposed arrangement will amend four laws: the Election Commission Act, the Voters’ List Act, the Electoral Offences and Punishment Act, and the House of Representatives Election Act.

According to the proposed provision, citizens whose names are included in the voter list and who are currently abroad will be able to cast votes under the proportional representation system. Discussions are ongoing about allowing individuals inside Nepal but present in another constituency to vote in the PR system, though this provision has not been included in the draft ordinance.

Under the ordinance, the authentication of the voter list will be done by embassies and missions, though the procedure for doing so is not mentioned in the draft. The government is preparing to designate embassies themselves as polling centers. The proposal also includes assigning Nepal government employees serving at those embassies as election officers.

Nearly a decade ago, the Supreme Court had ordered the government to draft laws enabling Nepali citizens abroad to participate in elections. Earlier, the government had stated that implementation was not possible due to technical difficulties. However, the current government formed after the Gen-Z movement has moved forward with the lawmaking process.

People’s News Monitoring Service.