EC asks election offices to speed up vote counting

By A Staff Reporter  Kathmandu, May 19: The Election Commission has instructed the concerned election offices to conclude the vote counting by May 19 and publish the final results at the earliest.

Issuing a press statement on Wednesday, the EC asked the concerned election officers to complete the vote counting by May 19 considering that the tenure of the local representatives elected in the last local poll will expire on May 19 and this will create a vacuum in the local levels.

EC’s Spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Poudel said that he EC asked the concerned parties to make the results of the local levels public by May 19 so as not to let local units remain without representatives and making it possible for the elected people’s representative to take charge immediately.

Poudel said the EC had been making maximum efforts to conclude the vote counting in the remaining local bodies by May 19.

The EC also appealed to the political parties, candidates, representatives and staff to conclude the vote counting in a timely manner, as per the people’s aspiration. “In the case of metropolitan and sub-metropolitan cities having larger voters, the Election Commission would like to recall the earlier instruction to conclude the vote counting within the stipulated time frame by arranging more manpower,” said Poudel.

Similarly, in case of municipalities, where polling has been postponed for various reasons, the EC also asked the election offices to start vote counting immediately after receiving the ballot boxes in the offices of the Returning Officers on the day of reelection.

Meanwhile, EC has sought details of the civil servants who did not work responsibly in the election.