Young voters flood Bagmati's election offices to register names

By Rammani Dahal,Makwanpur, Nov. 10: Election  offices across Bagmati Province are witnessing a significant surge in the number of young voters registering their names in the voters' list. 

The interim government, formed after the Gen-Z uprising of September 8 and 9, has announced the date of the election to the House of Representatives for March 5, 2026. 

Following to the announcement, the Election Commission opened the voter’s registration on September 26. 

Election offices report that the opportunity to register locally has encouraged students and employed youth to actively participate in the voter registration campaign. 

With just a week left for voter registration, over 16,000 people have registered across 10 districts outside the provincial capital.

Hari Prasad Dhakal, Provincial Election Officer at the Bagmati Province Election Office in Hetauda, confirmed the encouraging participation of youth in enrolling their names in the voters' list. 

He informed that before the festive season, only a few people were visiting the election office for registration. However, after Tihar, about 400 people are visiting the office daily. “Most of them are aged under 25, including those from rural areas who had previously missed registration,” he added.

In Makwanpur, 2,782 new voters had enrolled in the voter’s list till Friday, with over 300 more expected to register on Sunday. The district had 302,243 registered voters as of mid-October. 

In Chitwan, which has three parliamentary constituencies, young people are enthusiastically visiting the election office for registration. 

District Election Officer Bhimsen Karki said that 90 per cent of registrants are youth, including overseas returnees and those who had missed registration previously. 

As of Sunday afternoon, 5,788 new voters were registered in Chitwan, with 700 from outside the district. Chitwan’s total voters stand at 421,382.

Registrations are efficient, with the online form and biometric system allowing voters from outside the district to register quickly, sometimes just in a minute.

Likewise, as of Friday, a total of 853 new voters have registered their names for the upcoming election in the District Election Office, Sindhuli.

In Sindhuli, the number of eligible voters who turned 18 years old by November 2 has reached 208,415.

Similarly, in Sindhupalchok district, 1,020 people have registered in the voter list as of Friday (November 7).

District Election Officer Rajendra Prasad Pyakurel said that those who recently obtained citizenship certificates have come to register their names in the voter list, and that most new registrants belong to the 16–20 age group.  By mid-October, Sindhupalchok has 265,191 registered voters. In Kavrepalanchok district, voter registration for the upcoming election has seen enthusiastic participation of youths.

By Friday, 2,109 news voters had registered their names, bringing the total number of voters in Kavrepalanchok to 313,350, according to the District Election Office.

In Dolakha district, 714 new voters have registered, including 25 from outside the district. As per the final voter list published in mid-October, the district had 163,133 registered voters, the District Election Office said.

Similarly, in Ramechhap district, 675 new voters registered their names by Friday.

The District Election Office stated that most new registrants are young people aged between 22 and 25 years.

In Rasuwa district, 176 new voters registered their names as of Friday. According to the District Election Office, Rasuwa currently has 40,500 registered voters.

In Nuwakot district, 985 new voters have been registered, including 31 from outside the district, according to the District Election Office. As of the mid-October, Nuwakot had 240,302 registered voters.

In Dhading district, as of Sunday afternoon, 937 new voters were registered. According to District Election Officer Shiva Bahadur Gurung, 75 people have applied for a change of voting location, of which 60 cases have been finalised. 

Similarly, 113 people applied for error correction, and 82 cases have already been approved. Dhading district currently has 267,341 registered voters.

Election Officer Dhakal from the Provincial Election Office said that a large number of students from Bara, Parsa, and Rautahat districts who are studying in Hetauda have also come to register their names in voters roll. 

He added that people returning from abroad are also increasingly registering their names in the voter list.

He further mentioned that, unlike in the past, political parties have not been bringing their cadres in vehicles for registration and that most people are now coming voluntarily to register their names.