The Nepal Government's Policy Research Institute has suggested that voting arrangements could be made for Nepali citizens living abroad using three methods.
The institute submitted the findings of its study along with recommendations to Prime Minister Sushila Karki a few days ago. It will brief the Election Commission about this on Friday.
The study, led by the institute’s Executive Chairman Prof Dr Lekhnath Sharma, has concluded that voting from abroad could be facilitated using three methods. The three methods recommended in the study, which Setopati has obtained, are as follows:
I-voting
The institute has given top priority to this method. The study concludes that i-voting would be easily accessible, cost-effective, efficient, transparent, participatory, secure, and effective.
The institute recommends selecting a suitable company from among established and experienced global firms operating i-voting systems through open competition. It states that operating such platforms from Nepal's official servers would be effective.
As an alternative, it also suggests using large Nepali IT companies to store data in Nepali servers.
Since the elections are scheduled for March 5, 2026, the institute suggests amending the Public Procurement Act or fast-tracking the procurement process.
It proposes using Nepali passports that have not expired as the primary basis for voter verification. Voters must also declare that they are Nepali citizens.
There are provisions for dual citizenship in 36 countries where Nepalis reside. Government officials had highlighted the challenge that individuals who have acquired citizenship in other countries could also vote in Nepal's elections. To address this, voters must self-declare and sign a statement that they have not acquired citizenship in any other country. If the self-declaration is false, they will face legal action.
The institute also suggests preparing temporary voter rolls of Nepalis abroad, giving at least one month for registration. It says that it would be appropriate to do this through the Election Commission's website.
For registering Nepali citizens abroad in the voters list, the institute suggests adopting a four-tier identity verification method. This includes using mobile OTP (one-time password), date of birth, uploading scanned copies of citizenship certificate, national ID card, or voter ID card, and verifying passports of Nepalis living abroad using biometric data available at the Department of Passports.
Technology-based postal voting
The institute identifies this as the second most suitable option. It recommends starting this method for the proportional representation (PR) electoral system.
Postal voting would require advance voting arrangements. At least 15 days before the elections, the Election Commission would send ballot papers by post. Ballot papers received up to 15 days after the elections should be accepted, says the institute. In other words, it suggests allocating one month for postal voting.
The commission would bear the cost of sending ballot papers this way. For sending the ballot papers back to Nepal, the institute suggests that voters bear the cost themselves.
The likelihood of voters spending money to return their ballot papers is low. In such cases, the Nepal government would coordinate with the postal service of the respective country. Initially, the postal service could be asked to bear the cost, and reimbursement could be made later through the Universal Postal Union, the institute says.
According to the study, the Express Mail Service of Nepal Post covers 27 countries, with parcel services in an additional 10 countries. The institute suggests expanding services through agreements with various countries' airlines.
For expanding postal services, it recommends signing agreements with companies that have extensive air access. These include Turkish Airlines (flying to 352 destinations in 131 countries), Air Arabia (206 destinations in 50 countries), Qatar Airways (170 destinations in 90 countries), and Flydubai (136 destinations in 58 countries), among others.
In countries where postal services are not available, it could be implemented by directly signing agreements with private airlines or through private courier companies, the institute says.
It suggests a tripartite agreement between the General Post Office, the Department of Postal Service, and the Election Commission for postal voting. When registering names, it recommends including valid passports, contact addresses, and identity documents that verify the place of residence.
Under this method as well, the institute suggests sending a self-declaration form, return envelope, and voting instructions along with the ballot paper to individuals abroad.
After receiving the ballot paper, citizens abroad would need to open the Election Commission's app and upload a selfie photo showing their face clearly. The institute argues that this would provide digital proof that the person casting the vote is alive.
It suggests making arrangements for scanning the QR code on the ballot paper.
The institute also recommends that the application developed by the commission include details of candidates and parties so voters can view them. This arrangement has been suggested to provide information about competing candidates to Nepalis abroad.
Voters should mark the correct symbol on the ballot paper, sign the self-declaration form, put them in the return envelope, and send them to the Election Commission.
Voting at embassies and diplomatic missions
The institute's study has given this the lowest priority.
Under this system, the Election Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would coordinate to set up voting centers, sub-centers, and booths at select Nepali embassies and diplomatic missions abroad, allowing voters to cast their votes in person.
For this process, at least one month would be provided for registration in the voters list and verification.
The study suggests assigning the Nepal government the responsibility of identifying potential countries, diplomatic coordination, security arrangements, other financial and administrative management, and human resource management.
Based on international practice, elections could also be conducted by implementing a hybrid model using more than one or all three methods, says the institute.
Since only one day is allowed for voting in Nepal, the institute suggests amending the law to extend the voting period. It has also submitted an estimated timeline based on the time required to vote through these three methods.
This includes one week to issue an ordinance, and one month to register in the temporary voters list.
The institute says deactivating the names of those in the temporary voters list from the permanent list would take two weeks. Developing, procuring, testing, and operating an i-voting system would take three months, as mentioned in the study.
Similarly, the institute estimates that 45 days would be needed for preparation and registration of Nepalis abroad through the Election Commission's website, Nagarik app, or similar digital platforms.
