Heavy Rush in Voter Registration Offices Across Nepal as Deadline Nears

As the final date for voter registration approaches, district election offices across Nepal are facing an unprecedented surge in applications. The Election Commission has announced extended working hours to handle the growing pressure, with staff now operating in two shifts totaling 12 hours per day in high-demand districts.

With the registration deadline set for November 16, citizens eager to ensure their eligibility for the next election are struggling to secure time slots for photo verification. Many applicants have complained that appointment slots on the Commission’s website are consistently full, especially in Kathmandu, where demand has soared.

At the Kathmandu District Election Office, long queues have become a daily sight. “I tried several times to get a slot, but it kept showing full,” said Yuvraj an applicant. Many residents like him have turned to nearby cyber cafés for assistance in filling out online forms. “Sometimes the system fails, sometimes the quota is full, so I ended up paying a cyber café to submit it,” shared another applicant.

The registration extension was made possible after the government, under the leadership of former Chief Justice Sushila Karki, amended the Voter Registration Act following public pressure during Gen Z Protests. The amendment, passed through an ordinance in late September, allowed the Election Commission to resume nationwide voter registration. Previously, voter enrollment was halted once election dates were announced.

According to Commission data, as of November 10, more than 185,900 new voters have been registered since the process reopened. Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai noted that the daily number of new registrations has tripled compared to the early days of the drive. “Initially, we added about five to six thousand new voters per day. Now, the number has reached around twenty to twenty-two thousand daily,” he said.

On November 10 alone, 22,291 individuals had their photos taken for voter ID cards, a sharp rise from around 6,000 per day just a week earlier. Bhattarai acknowledged that the sudden spike caused temporary disruptions, but assured that additional resources and personnel were being deployed to manage the situation.

Kathmandu remains the most congested location for voter registration. On Sunday and Monday alone, the district office recorded 1,610 and 1,920 photo verifications respectively, double the figures from a week before. “We’ve increased the number of computers from three to eight and hired extra staff, but the rush keeps growing,” said Thakur an official.

Online appointment slots for Kathmandu are being filled within minutes, and frequent server crashes have added to applicants’ frustration. “People have to try several times before the form goes through,” an election official admitted.

To ease the burden, the Commission issued a notice on Tuesday stating that any district processing more than 800 registrations per day would now operate two six-hour shifts. In Kathmandu Valley alone, 14 additional staff from the Department of National ID and Civil Registration have been deployed. Local administrations in other districts have also been authorized to assign extra personnel based on demand.

Despite these measures, the overwhelming interest in voter registration highlights both the citizens’ growing political engagement and the administrative challenges of managing last-minute surges. With just days remaining before the deadline, the Election Commission faces a race against time to ensure that every eligible Nepali who wishes to register gets the opportunity to do so.