More than 6,000 votes were declared invalid in Tanahu district during Nepal’s March 5 House of Representatives election.
According to the District Election Office, a total of 6,252 ballots were rejected in the district. The invalid votes were recorded in the two parliamentary constituencies of Tanahu.
Officials say the number is high. This happened even though voter education programs were conducted before the election.
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Invalid Votes in Both Constituencies
Election Officer Bikash Lamsal said invalid votes were recorded in both constituencies.
- Tanahu Constituency No. 1: 2,730 invalid votes
- Tanahu Constituency No. 2: 3,522 invalid votes
As a result, Tanahu-2 had the highest number of rejected ballots in the district.
Voting Details in Tanahu-1
Tanahu-1 has 126,882 registered voters.
Out of them, 68,149 people voted in the election.
However, not all ballots were counted. After verification, officials found that 65,419 votes were valid. Meanwhile, 2,730 ballots were rejected.
Voting Details in Tanahu-2
The situation was similar in Tanahu-2.
In this constituency, 66,100 voters cast their ballots.
After counting, officials confirmed that:
- 62,579 votes were valid
- 3,522 votes were invalid
Therefore, thousands of votes could not be included in the final result.
Why Were the Votes Rejected?
Election officials say most invalid votes happened because of simple mistakes.
For example, some voters stamped more than one symbol. Others placed the stamp outside the correct box.
In some cases, voters marked the wrong area on the ballot paper. A few voters even submitted blank ballots.
Because of these mistakes, the ballots were rejected during counting.
Voter Education Was Conducted
Before the election, the Election Commission carried out voter education programs across the district.
Volunteers visited different wards. They explained how to vote correctly.
However, the number of invalid ballots remained high.
According to Election Officer Lamsal, more awareness is still needed to reduce such mistakes in future elections.
Nepal’s March 5 Election
Nepal held its House of Representatives election on March 5 across the country.
Around 18.9 million voters were registered for the election. The vote will elect 165 members directly to the lower house of Parliament.
In addition, 110 seats will be filled through proportional representation.
Early estimates show that about 60 percent of voters participated in the election.
The final results will play an important role in shaping Nepal’s next government.
