KATHMANDU: The task of printing the ballots for the House of Representatives (HoR) Member elections to be held on March 5 has reached the final phase.

According to the Election Commission, the printing of ballot papers for the constituencies in the districts surrounding the Kathmandu Valley remains. The ballot paper printing is being carried out regularly at the Janak Educational Materials Centre, Bhaktapur.

The Election Commission said the printing of ballot papers for 133 constituencies in 63 districts has been completed. So far, 17 million 163 thousand ballot papers have been printed, said the Commission’s assistant spokesperson Prakash Neupane.

Now, only the ballot papers for the 14 districts surrounding the Kathmandu Valley are to be printed. The ballot paper printing had been started from January 6.

Assistant spokesperson Neupane stated that it is estimated that the ballot papers for the remaining districts can be printed in three days. The ballot papers already printed have been packed. So far, 15 thousand 371 boxes of ballots have been packed.

Currently, about a thousand boxes of ballot papers are being packed daily and 1.1 to 1.5 million ballots are being printed.

The Election Commission has stated that 20 million 323 thousand ballot papers need to be printed for the first-past-the-post (FPTP) elections. Similarly, the Commission has started sending the printed ballot papers to 12 electoral constituencies in 10 districts of Karnali Province from today.

Assistant Spokesperson Neupane said that ballot papers have been transported to 12 electoral constituencies in 10 districts of Karnali Province, including Salyan, Rukum West, Dolpa, Mugu, Humla, Kalikot, Jumla, Jajarkot, Dailekh, and Surkhet.