Election Commission Ramps Up Voter Education Nationwide to Boost Participation

Kathmandu. With the objective of making the election as participatory as possible and reducing the percentage of invalid votes, the Election Commission has widely advanced the nationwide voter education program.

The voter education program, approved by the Commission, is being carried forward with the aim of informing the general public about the importance of suffrage and the voting process. The Commission has stated that from Falgun 3 to 17, one voter education volunteer has been deployed in each of the 6,743 wards across all 753 local levels nationwide.

The Commission has mentioned that the volunteers deployed are informing voters about the importance of the election and the voting process using sample ballot papers by reaching the settlements and doorsteps of the general voters. For the purpose of the voter education program, the orientation program has also been completed for the contact persons previously designated by the Commission at the local levels, who have now been appointed as monitors for the election voter education program.

Furthermore, the Commission is making maximum efforts to bring individuals and organizations engaging in illegal activities under the purview of the law in collaboration with regulatory bodies, while also monitoring individuals who spread false or misleading information and hate speech that violates the election code of conduct. The Information Integrity Promotion Unit, established under the Election Information Dissemination and Coordination Center at the Commission, has been reported as fully operational.

Complaints have been filed with the Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police against 290 content producers and disseminators spreading harmful information, for action under the Electronic Transactions Act, 2063. Similarly, 11 cases have been sent to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority for action under the Telecommunications Authority Act, 2052. The Commission also stated that 65 cases have been sent to the Press Council Nepal for action under the Press Council Act, 2048, and one case has been sent for action under the Advertisement (Regulation) Act, 2076.