Vote-counting centers equipped with wire mesh, CCTV cameras ready in Baglung

By Arjun Karki, Baglung, March 3: Counting centres have been prepared in Baglung for the upcoming election of the House of Representatives (HoR) being held on March 5.

For Constituency No. 1, the hall of the district coordination committee hall will be used as the counting center while for Constituency No. 2, the hall of the Chief Election Officer’s office at Kuthaplo, Burtibang in Dhorpatan Municipality-2 will be used as the counting center.

Since the district has two constituencies, two separate counting locations have been managed.

Dr Sita Sharma Adhikari, Chief Election Officer, stated that barbed wire and CCTV cameras have been installed to tackle possible security challenges during the counting process.

The cameras record both video and audio inside the rooms where ballot boxes are kept, and votes are counted.

Candidates and their representatives should observe from outside the barriers.

Counting staff remain inside the secure area.

Dr Adhikari expressed, “This method is adopted to prevent possible fraud or interference.’’

Assistant Election Officer Rishiram Rizal confirmed that preparations for the counting centre in Burtibang, Constituency No. 2, have been completed.

After voting concludes, officials will collect all ballot boxes and start counting only after a meeting with all party representatives.

Baglung includes 107 polling stations and 230 polling centres, along with two temporary centres.

The district has 193,381 registered voters, including 98,574 men, 94,806 women, and one other voter of unspecified gender.

1,380 personnel, including 232 chief polling officers, 232 assistant polling officers, and security staff, have been deployed for conducting the poll.

Twenty-three candidates are contesting for the two seats in the House of Representatives from the district, Baglung.