Voting for the leadership election under the 11th general convention of the UML is scheduled to begin at 8 am on Wednesday. The election process was postponed on Tuesday night due to technical problems with the electronic voting machines, while delegates were already lining up to vote.

The publication of the voter list and the registration of candidates were completed on Monday, so the schedule for starting voting was made public on Tuesday afternoon. However, due to the delay in entering the names of the candidates in the electronic machines, voting was said to start at 8 pm. Presidential candidates KP Sharma Oli and Ishwor Pokharel were also in line to vote. However, at around 8:15 pm, outgoing general secretary Shankar Pokharel informed that the voting was postponed.

UML is using electronic machines made by the 'Ram-Lakshman Innovation' company for the leadership selection. According to the General Election Commission, the problem arose because some people preferred the font 'Entry' to write the names of the candidates in Unicode. 'It has been decided to start voting at 8 am on Wednesday after resolving the problem seen in the machine,' said Sanuraj Pokharel, vice-chairman of the commission. 'The decision to postpone the voting was made with the consent of the presidential candidates.'

Another member of the commission said that there was no other reason for the postponement of the voting other than a technical problem. Ram-Laxman Innovations director Laxman Rimal said that the voting had to be postponed as it took time to 'merge' the details received on Tuesday afternoon. 'It took time because the font had to be changed from Preeti to Unicode when the candidate's details were pulled,' he said.

UML had prepared to use electronic voting machines to draw results quickly. When voting could not begin on Tuesday night as well, the representatives left the hall expressing dissatisfaction. The UML general convention has been extended by a day due to the delay in voting.

Ishwar Pokharel's faction had requested that voting be arranged in the afternoon, keeping in mind peace and security. Pokharel's deputy general secretary candidate Yogesh Bhattarai said that he had drawn the attention of the commission, saying that voting in the afternoon would be easier in terms of security and other issues. 'We had drawn the commission's attention to the fact that voting in the afternoon would be better,' he said, 'due to problems with the machine, the voting time was set for Wednesday morning. Voting in the afternoon makes it easier for everyone.'

80 electronic voting machines are being used in the voting. 'A hundred machines have been brought to the general convention, but 80 machines will be used,' said Central Election Commission Chairman Vijay Subba. According to him, it will take 25 to 30 minutes for a voter to vote. 2,262 delegates are participating in the general convention. According to the commission, if there are no technical problems, the voting will take about 10 hours to complete. The commission says that the results can be declared within three hours of the end of the voting. 

KP Sharma Oli and Ishwor Pokharel have formed a party panel and entered the election. Ishwor Pokharel is at number 1 for the chairman and KP Sharma Oli is at number 2 on the ballot paper. 11 people are in the race for the five vice-chairmen. The names of Arun Nepal, Guru Prasad Baral, Gokarna Raj Bista, Tanka Prasad Karki, Parashuram Meghi Gurung, Prithvi Subba Gurung, Bhim Prasad Acharya, Raghuji Pant, Ram Bahadur Thapa (Badal), Binda Pandey and Bishnu Prasad Poudel have been placed on the ballot paper in order.

Shankar Pokharel and Surendra Pandey are candidates for the post of general secretary. Seven candidates have filed their candidacies for the three deputy general secretaries. Ananda Prasad Pokharel, Yogesh Bhattarai, Raghubir Mahaseth, Rajendra Prasad Gautam, Lekhraj Bhatta, Bishnu Prasad Rimal and Baijnath Chaudhary have been placed on the ballot paper in order.

Twenty people have entered the fray for the nine secretaries. Agni Kharel, Indralal Sapkota, Karna Thapa, Krishnagopal Shrestha, Khagaraj Adhikari, Gokul Baskota, Chhabilal Bishwakarma, Thakur Gaire, Padma Aryal, Purushottam Poudel, Pemba Lama, Bhanubhakta Dhakal, Mahesh Basnet, Yamalal Kandel, Rachana Khadka, Rajan Bhattarai, Lalbabu Pandit, Binod Dhakal, Sherdhan Rai and Hikmat Karki are the candidates for the post of secretary.

There is a system of selecting 9 central members from each province's geography 'cluster'. There are 5 open members, 3 women and one youth under 40 years of age. There are 16 candidates for 5 open seats in the Sudurpaschim geography. Two young central members under 40 years of age are competing for one seat. There are 7 candidates for 3 women members from Sudurpaschim.

In Karnali geography, there is a competition between 8 candidates for 5 open central members. There are 2 candidates for one member and 4 candidates for 3 women members in the youth ‘cluster’ under 40 years of age. There are 12 candidates competing for the open seat from Lumbini. 3 women and 1 young man have been elected unopposed from this province.

In Gandaki, 10 candidates are competing for the open seat, 4 for 3 women and 2 candidates for one person under 40 years of age. 11 candidates are competing for the 5 open seats from Bagmati, 4 for 3 women and 4 for one young man.

In Madhesh Province, there is a competition between 14 candidates for the open seat of 5 central members. There are 7 candidates for 3 women and 4 for one young man. There are 10 candidates for the five open seats from Koshi Province. There are 5 candidates for 3 women and 2 candidates for one young man. There are 10 candidates for the 5 open seats from the Capital Special Province. There are 7 candidates for 3 women and 3 candidates for one young man.

There are 5 candidates for the open 3 members of the contact coordination, while two are competing for the 1 member of the contact coordination women. In the inclusive direction, there are 34 candidates for the open 15 members in the indigenous nationalities. In the indigenous nationalities youth 'cluster', 7 people are competing for 2 seats. 13 people have filed candidacies for the 8 women members from the indigenous nationalities.

In the inclusive direction, there are 24 candidates for the open 13 central members of the Madhesi nationalities. 2 youth from this 'cluster' have been elected unopposed. 7 people are in the election competition for the 6 Madhesi women members. 17 people have filed candidacies for the 7 central members. There are 4 candidates for the 1 Dalit youth member.

In the inclusive Tharu direction, 8 people are competing for the 5 members and 4 for the 2 women seats. There are 10 candidates for the 4 Muslim seats, of which one woman has been elected unopposed.

In the inclusive labor 'cluster', 5 people are competing for the open 3 members. 2 women workers have been elected unopposed. Two candidates have contested for the open 1 member from backward areas, 1 woman has been elected unopposed. There are 2 candidates for the open 1 member from people with disabilities. One has been elected unopposed from the South Asian region of the diaspora, and 3 are in the race for the 1 member from other countries.

There are 167 candidates for the 72 central members from the open. The UML statute provides that those who file candidacies for office bearers automatically become candidates for the open member. Two people under the age of 40 have also been elected unopposed. 71 candidates are in the race for the 52 central members.

There were 603 candidacies for 301 posts, including office bearers and the central committee. Out of them, 11 have been elected unopposed. 13 people, including the candidate for Deputy Secretary General Rajendra Gautam, have withdrawn their candidacies. According to Sanuraj Pokharel, Vice President of the Central Election Commission, Leelamani Gautam, Gumadevi Acharya, Menaka Kumari Pokharel and Shanti Devi Dhakal have been elected unopposed from Lumbini Province.

Naresh Rokaya and Sushil Kumar Thapa from the central member youth (under 40 years), Amar Kumar Yadav and Raunit Sah from the youth from Madhesh Pradesh, Muslim woman Khajida Khatun Siddiqui, Badmi Quari Budha (Bohra) from the backward area women and Hari Prasad Ghimire from Pravas South Asia have been unanimously elected.

The candidates have intensified their election campaign. The closed session venue Bhrikutimandap area is littered with pamphlets and visiting cards of the candidates. Some are seeking votes with banners. The process of seeking votes is also going on with art, culture, songs and slogans. Digital media including social media is also being widely used in the campaign.

Leader Pradeep Gyawali, who was dissatisfied with not being able to be a candidate for the post of general secretary from the Oli panel, walked for about three hours on Tuesday seeking votes for Shankar Pokharel. The Oli panel had nominated Gyawali for the post of vice-chairman on Monday. But expressing dissatisfaction with that, he has only given his candidacy for the central member. 

After Gyawali's candidacy was not included, Raghuji Pant has been included in the Oli panel for the vice-chairman. Pant had independently given his candidacy for the vice-chairman on Monday, expressing dissatisfaction with the formation of the panel.