SURKHET: Voting began at 7 am across all 10 districts of Karnali Province on Wednesday, with polling underway at every designated station, according to the Provincial Election Office. Officials estimate that around 70 percent of the total electorate will cast their votes.

Karnali has 1,037,250 registered voters, including 509,361 women and 527,886 men. A total of 941 polling stations and more than 1,400 polling booths have been set up across the province.

Surkhet has the highest number of voters at 248,938, followed by Salyan with 162,449 and Dailekh with 161,204. Other districts include Jajarkot with 107,091 voters, Rukum Paschim with 106,660, Kalikot with 85,446, Jumla with 71,739, Mugu with 36,031, Humla with 34,372, and Dolpa with the lowest at 24,115.

The province comprises 12 House of Representatives constituencies, with two each in Surkhet and Dailekh and one in each of the remaining districts. A total of 138 candidates are contesting in these constituencies.