Nepal will soon formally invite official observers from all member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) elections on November 22, local media reported on Thursday.
After a meeting with Indian Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami, Nepal's Election Commissioner Nilkantha Uprety informed that Nepal had already started inviting official observers from the international community including all member states of the SAARC.
"On behalf of Nepal's Election Commission, I formally invited the Indian Chief Election Commissioner for an observation of the November CA polls in Nepal," Uprety told a leading website, ekantipur.com, "This was a verbal request. We will soon be sending out written requests to all SAARC countries."
Leading a four-member Nepalese delegation, Uprety arrived in the Indian capital of New Delhi to share the Indian EC's experiences regarding the use of technology in elections, code of conduct, benefits and complications of electronic voting, among others, two days ago.
"We want a serious and wide observation of the CA polls in Nepal. For that we are in favor of official international observers," said Uprety.
"The main purpose of our visit was to know about the use of technology during elections -- from the time of filing of candidacy to the counting of votes," said Uprety.
Uprety also informed that electronic voting machines (EVT) will be used at certain polling booths as a pilot project. He said the Nepalese team had discussed in detail the features and complications of the EVTs with the Indian officials.
"It is yet to be decided whether the Indian government will provide the EVTs as assistance or the Nepal government will buy them from India," said Uprety adding that the EVTs will be used in one of the constituencies in the Kathmandu district. Uprety said some 200 EVTs will be needed for this purpose.
According to Uprety, the CA polls results will be gradually made available also on the Internet as the counting begins.
"Everything will be computerized now. The results will be available on the Internet also. For that all concerned sides will be fed with the necessary information. A technical team from the EC will soon visit New Delhi to acquire more knowledge about this. "
Source: Xinhua
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