When elections come, two incidents of torn ballot papers get attention. Such incidents have also taught the Election Commission a lesson. Learning from the incidents of torn ballot papers in 2074 and 2054, the Commission has been making new improvements to the counting center every time.

Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said that more sophisticated and secure arrangements have been made for counting ballot papers for this time's House of Representatives elections than in the past. Claiming that the Commission has improved the election system and practice by learning from all the past incidents, Bhandari said that this time it has been made more sophisticated and secure.

Bhandari said that the counting center for this time's House of Representatives elections has been built sturdily. He argues that it has been made a safe place by wrapping it with wire mesh. The place where the vote counting takes place and where the candidate's representatives stay has been made separate. They can watch the counting of votes, but they are not allowed to approach the tellers.

An iron fence with a wire mesh has been placed at the counting center, leaving the place where party representatives sit. The Election Commission has stated that the iron fence with a mesh has been built so that the representatives can see the counting of votes.

At least 8 CCTV cameras have been installed at each counting center. The Election Commission has stated that there may be more CCTV cameras at large counting centers.

Learning from the incident of ballot paper tearing in Bharatpur, the Election Commission has made CCTV cameras mandatory at counting centers across the country this time and it has been made visible to the Election Commission, including the Chief Election Officer, in some areas.

According to the Election Commission, the counting of votes will take place at the election office of each district. The collection of ballot boxes has begun immediately after the voting ends. The process of collecting ballot boxes at the district election offices has begun. However, arrangements have been made to count the ballot papers in Kathmandu in 10 constituencies.

After the ballot boxes are collected at the election offices of other districts, an all-party meeting of all political parties is held before counting them. The all-party meeting will determine the rules for counting the votes, from invalidation to confirmation. Decisions are being made in advance about the election law, past practices to problems that may arise. Only then will the counting of votes begin. Acting Chief Election Commissioner Bhandari has said that the counting of votes in the direct direction will be done first, followed by the counting of votes in the proportional direction. Bhandari has been claiming that the results will be announced within 24 hours of the start of the counting of votes in the direct direction. The Election Commission is expected to make the final results public within a week.

The Election Commission has said that the ballot boxes will be transported by helicopter from remote areas of 15 remote districts. Acting Chief Commissioner Bhandari informed in a press conference organized after the voting on Thursday that the counting of votes will begin immediately after the completion of the voting process and the safe collection of the ballot boxes.

He said that the goal is to deliver all the ballot boxes from Taplejung, Rasuwa, Dolakha, Bajhang and Rukum (eastern part) to the respective counting sites today, while the ballot boxes from Sankhuwasabha, Solukhumbu, Gorkha and Rukum (western part), Manang, Bajura and Humla will be delivered to the respective counting sites by Friday morning.

What was the Bharatpur incident?

In the 2074 BS local elections, Renu Dahal was the mayoral candidate from the Bharatpur Metropolitan City Maoist Center. Her opponent was Devi Gyawali from the CPN-UML. Both were famous and there was a tough competition. The counting of votes in ward number 19 was taking place on the night of Jestha 14. While the counting was going on, a dispute broke out between the UML and Maoist representatives. In the midst of the dispute, the CPN (Maoist Center) representative tore the ballot paper.

After the ballot paper was torn, a long dispute arose over whether to accept the election results or not. The dispute reached the Supreme Court. The District Court, Chitwan, also fined Drona Shiwakoti and Madhu Neupane, who tore the ballot paper, one lakh each. In that election, the Congress and the then Maoist Center supported Dahal as the candidate of the alliance, and the UML nominated Gyawali as its candidate.

After the re-voting, Dahal of the Maoist won the mayoral election by getting 43,127 votes. The nearest rival, Devi Gyawali of the UML, got 42,924 votes.

The issue of ballot paper tearing became a national issue after Gyawali  was defeated by 203 votes. After that incident, the Election Commission started installing wire mesh at the counting site to protect the ballot paper during the counting. During the 2074 BS election to the House of Representatives, the counting was carried out in various districts including Chitwan. 

Not only in 2074 BS, but also in 2054 BS; ballot paper was torn.  Ballot papers were torn in Baglung at that time. At that time, UML cadres tore the ballot paper.  While the counting was going on in the then Amlachaur VDC, present Baglung Municipality 12, a re-voting was held after a UML representative tore the ballot paper.

Construction of counting centers in all 10 constituencies in Kathmandu

The Election Commission has made arrangements to count votes after voting in all 10 constituencies in Kathmandu. Election Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said that arrangements have been made to count votes in the respective constituencies. He said that since it is easy in Kathmandu and since it is a constituency of the House of Representatives, there will be ownership and the results will come out quickly, arrangements have been made for counting votes in the constituencies.

Spokesperson Bhattarai said that fences and CCTV cameras have been installed at the counting centers in Kathmandu as well. Within a few hours of the end of voting in Kathmandu, an all-party meeting will be held to collect ballot boxes and the counting of votes will begin. Security arrangements have been tightened to prevent any untoward activity during the counting, said Commission spokesperson Bhattarai.

How to get information about the results

The Election Commission is preparing to make the final results of all constituencies public within about a week. Although the Acting Chief Election Commissioner has claimed that the results will be made public within 24 hours of the start of the counting, the Election Commission plans to complete the counting of votes for the direct route, and the proportional route, after three days. The Commission has stated that the counting of votes will begin today by collecting ballot boxes in accessible places, including Kathmandu, with the consent of the all-party meeting, and if this is not possible, the counting will begin from Friday morning.

The Election Commission will have to transport ballot papers from remote areas and there will be some delay, otherwise the counting will begin without delay in other areas, said Kul Bahadur GC, Assistant Spokesperson of the Election Commission. The Commission is preparing to make the results available on the Election Commission's website at the counting site to provide immediate information about the results. The commission has stated that the results of the election of the election commission and the constituency of the constituency they wish to view can be viewed by going to the 'Election Results' section of the commission's website.