Low poll, Low enthusiasm

Kathmandu: In an initial trend that runs far below the official hope and expectation, only about one third of the total voters turned out to cast their votes, officials said.

Shalikram Sharma, spokesperson of the Election Commission said that only 32 per cent voters showed up till 12.45 PM as per the information gathered from all over the country. The designated deadline for voting that began at 7 in the morning is 5 PM Sunday.

“May be it was due to cold weather that there was low turnout, and we hope it will pick up now, ” Sharma said. However, reports from different parts of the country indicated that there was no phenomenal increase likely in the voters’ participation. Altogether, 17.9 million voters are eligible to cast their votes.

The poll has been progressing peacefully, and with its closure in the evening, the fate of altogether 4,613 candidates–2,414 under the First Past the Post and remaining 2,199 for the Proportional Representation System–for Federal Parliament and another 6,932 candidates including 3,224 under the  FPTP and the rest under the PR system–for provincial legislature will be sealed, and decided only after the counting is over.