काठमाडौं ।
The Election Commission of Nepal (ECN) has held a high-level consultation with experts and policy stakeholders on expanding voting access for Nepali citizens living abroad and those staying outside their registered electoral constituencies.
The consultation focused on developing a secure, transparent and legally sound framework to enable millions of eligible Nepali citizens to exercise their voting rights.
Representatives from the Policy Research Institute (PRI), Nepal Policy Institute (NPI), universities, the Computer Association of Nepal (CAN) Federation, Blockchain Association and experts in information technology, cybersecurity and electronic voting machines (EVMs) participated in the consultation.
The Commission discussed several possible voting mechanisms, assessing their feasibility, operational risks and resource requirements. The options included postal and proxy voting, electronic voting machines with voter-verified paper audit trails (EVM/VVPAT), internet voting and IT-assisted postal voting.
Participants also examined key technical and security requirements for introducing remote or technology-assisted voting.
These included strong voter authentication to uphold the “one person, one vote” principle, ballot secrecy, cybersecurity, protection against unauthorized access and data leaks, and independent audits to ensure the accuracy and transparency of the voting system.
The consultation also discussed voter education, administrative costs, specialized manpower, pilot testing and a phased implementation strategy.
Election Commissioner Dr. Rajiv Subba said technology should be adopted according to electoral requirements rather than allowing technology to determine how elections are conducted.
“Technology should follow the electoral requirement—not the other way around,” Subba said.
He said the Commission was first identifying Nepal’s legal, security and public-trust requirements instead of prematurely adopting a particular digital voting technology.
CAN Federation Acting President Chiranjibi Adhikari said political commitment and cooperation among political parties would be essential to ensure voting rights for Nepalis living abroad and outside their registered constituencies.
“Ensuring voting rights for overseas and out-of-constituency voters requires strong political commitment, active engagement from political parties—specifically through their IT and International departments—and unwavering confidence in the private sector, particularly Nepal’s domestic IT industry,” Adhikari said.
According to the CAN Federation, technological readiness alone would not be sufficient to implement such a voting system. It said political leaders would need to develop a common vision while placing confidence in Nepal’s domestic IT sector to develop and maintain secure voting systems.
The feedback and technical recommendations gathered during the consultation are expected to contribute to future legal amendments, policy development and infrastructure planning for voting by Nepalis living abroad and mobile populations within the country.
The initiative could mark a significant step toward making Nepal’s electoral system more inclusive by expanding opportunities for eligible citizens who are unable to vote from their registered constituencies.
प्रकाशित: २६ भाद्र २०८३, शुक्रबार
