The Election Commission has resumed the process of drafting a unified law on election management. The Commission's proposal to unify seven separate laws related to elections into a single law has not been able to take shape for a long time.

The Commission had prepared a draft bill to amend and unify the election laws and submitted it to the government on 18 Ashad 2080. However, the government did not submit it to the parliament and the parliament was dissolved on 27 Bhadra 2082. Subsequently, in the backdrop of the House of Representatives elections held on 21 Falgun and the formation of a new government, the Commission is preparing to send the draft bill to the government again. Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari told Kantipur that the draft bill will be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs soon.

‘There are separate laws related to the elections to the House of Representatives, Provincial Assembly and local level and their management,’ he said, ‘The draft of the integrated law has been prepared to bring uniformity in the law, to include certain issues in the law as per the orders given by the court and to further simplify the legal process.’ He mentioned that the commission has sought suggestions from the concerned political parties for further amendments and additions to the draft prepared in 2080 BS. After integrating the suggestions, the commission is preparing to send the draft to the government after amending it as required.

The commission is finalizing the draft of the ‘Election Management Bill’ by integrating 7 acts including voter roll, elections (offences and punishments), local level elections, elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the Provincial Assembly, elections to the President and Vice President and elections to the National Assembly. The new government formed after the elections has asked the commission to send the old draft back to the commission and send it back with some amendments if necessary.

The head of the legal division and joint secretary of the commission, Yagya Bhattarai, said that the Home Ministry had sent the old draft back to the commission last month. He mentioned that suggestions are being collected and discussions are underway on the draft. ‘The commission has already sought suggestions from political parties and other stakeholders on the draft it has prepared,’ he said, ‘Some suggestions have been received. We are expecting some to come. After that, we will finalize the draft and send it to the government.’

The proposed bill has a provision to include the names of Nepali citizens living abroad in the voter list. Similarly, a provision has been made to vote in advance towards the proportional electoral system. This will help provide the right to vote to Nepali citizens living abroad. After the Gen-G movement held on 23 and 24 Bhadra last year, the youth had urgently raised the demand to give the right to vote to citizens living abroad. And, they had put pressure on the government and the commission to implement it in the last election. However, due to lack of law and time pressure, it was not implemented.

The proposed bill also includes the right to 'no vote' if one does not want to vote for any candidate. The Supreme Court has also ordered the right to vote for Nepali citizens living abroad and to include the 'no vote' provision in the ballot paper. However, due to lack of law, both issues have not been implemented. The draft also includes a provision to allow the use of electronic devices for voting. There is a proposal to make a provision to allow voters living abroad to vote with the assistance of the Nepali embassy/mission in the respective country.

The draft also proposes that at least 33 percent of the constituencies in which the party directly contests for the House of Representatives or Provincial Assembly members should be women. Although the law ensures the participation of women in the proportional system, it is not in the direct way. The commission has proposed that political parties should allocate one-third of their candidacies for women in direct elections.

Similarly, the proposal stipulates that parties fielding candidates at the local level should nominate 33 percent of all ward chairpersons. It has been said that women should be nominated as candidates for at least one of the municipal chairpersons or vice-chairpersons, mayors or deputy mayors. However, it has been proposed that women should be nominated for only one post. Similarly, it has been proposed that the opportunity to be elected through the proportional system will be limited to two times. There is also a provision that a person who is defeated as a candidate for the post of member of the federal parliament, provincial assembly or local level will not be able to be a candidate in any level of election until the term of such post is completed. However, such a person will have the facility to be a candidate in the by-election for the same post in the same constituency or level.

Acting Chief Election Commissioner Bhandari said that the commission has prepared a draft by incorporating the issues that were felt to be necessary during the election exercise. He mentioned that the draft was prepared by considering court orders, needs seen during the election exercise, domestic demands and international practices.

‘Many issues have been covered in the draft that has already been prepared.’ "We are further refining the right to vote for Nepali citizens abroad and including the issue of inter-district and inter-constituency elections in the new draft," he told Kantipur. "The commission expects the bill to be submitted to parliament and passed during this budget session."