Summary
- Approximately 40 percent of ballots remained unused and are set to be destroyed following the House of Representatives election held on Falgun 21.
- The Election Commission printed 7 percent more ballots than the number of registered voters, sending 41,143,000 ballots to the election districts.
- According to the Government Document Destruction Regulation, 2027, unused ballots are to be destroyed and sold at auction.
Chaitra 10, Kathmandu – Nearly 40 percent of the ballots that were not used in the House of Representatives election held on Falgun 21 are set to be destroyed. Although 59 percent voter turnout was recorded, 40 percent of the ballots printed for both the first-past-the-post and proportional representation systems remained unused.
A total of 18,903,669 registered voters were eligible to participate in the election, yet the Election Commission printed ballots exceeding the voter count by seven percent and distributed them to the election districts through the Janak Education Material Center.
The Commission printed and delivered 20,323,000 ballots for the first-past-the-post system and 20,843,000 for the proportional representation system, totaling 41,143,000 ballots.
According to the Election Commission, 11,168,032 voters cast ballots in the first-past-the-post system, of which 10,590,917 (94.55 percent) votes were valid. In the proportional representation system, 11,280,617 voted with 10,835,025 (96.05 percent) valid votes.
Election Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai stated that following the practice of printing more ballots than voters, 41,143,000 ballots were printed this time and that the unused ballots will be destroyed in accordance with established regulations.
Addressing concerns about potential misuse or questions over the election’s integrity due to surplus ballots, Bhattarai said, “Suspicion is understandable, but there is no doubt about the election’s fairness. We have already submitted reports to the President, and no formal inquiries have been raised by any party or faction. Therefore, doubts based solely on ballot wastage are not appropriate.”
Janak Education Material Center Limited’s Managing Director Yadunath Paudel reported that, along with textbook printing and other routine tasks, 1.3 million ballots were printed daily under the Commission’s directives and safely delivered to election areas on time. He added that ballot printing has also helped the center offset losses.
“According to the Government Document Destruction Regulation, 2027 (First Amendment, 2070), document destruction refers to canceling official documents to a point where they can no longer be read, understood, or used, including incineration.”
Under these rules, once documents have served their purpose and pose no harm to the government, office chiefs may order their destruction at any time. Destroyed government documents can also be sold at auction.
According to the regulation, documents are categorized three months after their completion. Except for maps and design data, construction plans, feasibility studies, contracts, leases, and grant documents can only be destroyed after audit completion. Archival documents of national importance are never to be destroyed.
The Commission also reported that during the fiscal year 2079, about 40 million ballots were printed each for the House and Provincial Assembly elections, with around 62 percent voter turnout, leaving the rest of the ballots unused.
