In the year 2075, the Supreme Court gave a clear order to the government to protect the fundamental right of every citizen to vote according to the 2072 Constitution - Nepalis living abroad should be allowed to vote. The International Convention on Human Rights (ICCPR, Article 25) also guarantees the right of citizens to participate in elections.

No democratic country can deprive its citizens from voting - that would be a violation of natural rights. However, seven years after the order of the Supreme Court, the government has not implemented this right citing legal, economic, technical and managerial reasons. After the government did not implement it, the Supreme Court recently 'reminded' the government to implement it again in July 2082. 

According to Nepal's 2078 census, at least two million citizens of the country live abroad. Some people even believe that this number is around 50-60 million. Some even say up to 8 million. Most of the emigrants are out of the country for work and education, while some of them have been living abroad for a long time. However, they have not been able to use the basic right to vote in democracy. On the other hand, Algeria 

In its 382-member House of Representatives, 8 members are elected from among its citizens living abroad, while Ecuador elects 6 through elections. On the other hand, in Nepal, you can't cast your vote from outside your voting area even inside Nepal. 

Still, disenfranchising people who send remittances equal to one-fourth of the country's GDP and support the economy even when the country's economic conditions are unfavorable is neither fair nor ethical. 

Why do immigrants and migrants need voting rights?

Nepalis who have migrated within the country and living abroad should also ensure their right to vote in order to make their voice heard through the democratic process. It is the right of Nepali citizens who have reached the voting age. Every year, Nepalis abroad send billions of rupees in remittances, which fuel Nepal's economy. Therefore, it is unjust and immoral to exclude them from the democratic process. There are also many people who question that ``When even prisoners can vote, why are Nepalis living abroad deprived?''

Nepalis living abroad can only give advice or instructions to vote for a certain party or a certain candidate. However, as they get to vote themselves, their interest and attachment to the country increases. Allowing them to vote against the comment that 'youth is fleeing the country' can make the youth directly participate in the democratic process through voting. It is not possible to directly stop the foreign migration, but this process definitely communicates the hope that good people of their choice will build the country. 

methods There are four main ways to vote from abroad in the

method. First, go to certain places designated by the embassy or the government and drop the ballot in the ballot box. In the upcoming elections, Nepal can arrange to place ballot boxes in its embassies in some selected countries. These countries can be Malaysia, Qatar etc. But the Nepal government should also answer the question why voting was allowed in some places and not elsewhere. Second, send your vote to Nepal through post. This process is slow and there is a possibility that votes may change or disappear midway. 

Thirdly, a person in a foreign country will appoint a certain person whom he trusts as his representative and such a 'proxy' representative will vote for the name of the migrant in Nepal. Nepal can implement this system easily, but it cannot be verified that the representative cast the votes of the Nepalese living abroad in the election symbol he said or not. It is only based on faith. In some places, it is customary to apply the above mixed system as well. Fourth, online voting, which is now widely used, in which the voter casts his vote online at home and comes to a secure database. 

Political and legal hurdles

The main challenge to ensure voting for Nepalis living abroad is political will. In the current political situation, this political obstacle has been removed to a large extent. It is a very good time to give voting rights to Nepalese diaspora. 

Even though the leaders of the so-called 'big' parties so far have publicly supported it, they have not made it a priority in practice. Even if the Supreme Court says that the 'big' political parties have an assumption that their main voters are inside Nepal and there is also an understanding that the Nepalis abroad will not vote for them because they are angry with them and they will vote for the new party, so the voting rights of Nepalis abroad are not guaranteed yet. 

In that we have a habit of stamping paper ballots and putting them in the ballot box. Also, even when the ballots are cast, there is a custom of counting all the votes after the representatives of all the political parties sit. 

In some political parties, their internal voting is done through ballot papers, but there is no practice of online or e-voting. We also saw that the ballot paper itself was thrown into the tank in the party's internal elections. Some other political parties do not conduct voting or follow democratic process when choosing their leader.

In this situation, ballots coming from abroad will be doubted and measures such as online voting will be ignored. On top of that, some of the second level leaders of the 'main' political parties would say something to ensure voting rights for the Nepalis living abroad, but the 'big' leaders of the 'big' parties were mostly silent about it. 

However, the current interim government can solve this political problem by keeping the Election Commission in front. For this, the current government should amend the Election Act. The current law restricts voting rights to one's own constituency. This is a good time to make voting rights universal, even in systemic terms. It is also an opportunity.

Economic, administrative and diplomatic obstacles

Another reason why the voting rights of Nepalis living abroad is not guaranteed is its economic aspect. Because it takes a lot of money to carry ballot boxes from Nepal, to take staff, to vote there and to bring back those ballot boxes and staff to ensure voting rights for Nepalis in countries that are geographically far away from Nepal, such as Canada. It is also very complicated from administrative and managerial point of view. For this reason, many people say that the right to vote immediately cannot be implemented for Nepalis living abroad. 

According to international experience, ensuring the voting rights of citizens living abroad is 5-10 times more expensive than usual. When Mexico implemented that voting system, the cost of a vote was more than 13,000 Nepalese rupees. Nepal's economic status may not be enough to spend that much money. 

Apart from that, in non-democratic countries like Saudi Arabia, if Nepalis are to be allowed to vote in ballot boxes in public places outside the embassy, ​​a bilateral agreement should be made with the relevant government. It is not a problem to hold elections inside the Nepali embassy, ​​but if voting booths are to be placed in many places in big countries to make elections accessible to everyone, it is imperative that Nepal take diplomatic initiatives. From a managerial point of view, Nepal has to face many other problems including costing a lot, problems in transportation, fear of fake votes or cyber attacks. 

An even bigger problem is that millions of Nepalis living abroad are not registered in the electoral roll. Recently the Election Commission has started this registration process but it is still complicated in terms of administration and management. To make the voter list easy, people who are abroad or in other constituencies within Nepal could take advantage of it by making provision to do it completely online and using other government certificates like passport, citizenship, national identity card, driving license as basis. 

'Blockchain Voting'

An easy solution to many economic, administrative and managerial challenges is online voting. As such, voting through the use of blockchain can also happen. By bringing blockchain into legal recognition, the government can ensure the voting rights of Nepalis living abroad and citizens who have migrated within Nepal through this technology. In blockchain technology, each vote is registered as a secure block, which cannot be altered or forged. 

Blockchain technology also helps vote counting while ensuring voter privacy, so political parties can sit down and verify each vote just like a ballot paper. Voters can be registered with digital ID (voter certificate or citizenship or passport). A voter can use that ID only once and can vote by logging into the voting app. After a vote is cast, the vote is permanently saved on the blockchain. In such a vote, the Election Commission, parties, observers and even voters can see the results in a transparent but confidential manner. It is not known who voted for whom. 

Not that it doesn't have its cybersecurity challenges, but by comparison, blockchain is among the most secure yet. Computer engineers and IT experts can also make cyber security agile. 

This technology was also used by Mexico during its 2024 presidential election. Based on my conversation with a blockchain service provider, he can provide this service for USD 1 (approx. Neru 140) per voter. This amount is much less than the cost of Nepal's 2079 elections. Technicians who can work on blockchain in Nepal can be hired to make the Nepali voting app itself. 

Blockchain technology can be made simple, accessible and ubiquitous not only economically but also administratively and managerially. By making the voter list completely digital and creating a digital registration system through an easy interface on the mobile, every voter can be engaged. After that, a comprehensive digital literacy program can be implemented to train the voters and educate them about the voting system by setting up assistance rooms at least in embassies and every ward. 

In the upcoming elections, it is also possible to think about implementing the blockchain system within Nepal in the next elections by making the expatriates and people outside their voting area to vote using blockchain. 

However, whether Nepalese are abroad or within Nepal, their digital literacy is uneven. Some highly educated youth can easily use online systems, but many people find it difficult to use smartphone apps or websites. Digital literacy plays an important role in this.