Kathmandu: Voter turnout in Nepal’s ongoing parliamentary election reached 16.88 percent by midday on Thursday, according to the Election Commission Nepal.
Polling began at 7:00 a.m. across the country for elections to the House of Representatives of Nepal. By 12:00 p.m., a total of 3.19 million votes had been cast nationwide, the commission said.
A total of 18,903,689 voters are eligible to participate in the election. Of them, 9,663,358 are male voters, 9,240,131 are female voters, and 200 are registered under the “other” category.
Historical data from the Election Commission shows that voter turnout in Nepal has reached as high as 78 percent in past elections since the restoration of democracy in 1990. While general elections and constituent assembly polls have traditionally seen strong public participation, recent elections have shown a gradual decline in turnout.
The highest participation was recorded during the 2013 election for the second Constituent Assembly, when 78.34 percent of voters cast their ballots — the highest turnout in Nepal’s electoral history.
More recently, turnout declined in the 2022 parliamentary and provincial elections, where only 61.63 percent of registered voters participated. This represented a drop of about seven percentage points compared with the 2017 election, which recorded a turnout of 68.67 percent.
According to commission data, voter turnout in major national elections since 1991 has been as follows: 65.15 percent in 1991, 61.86 percent in 1994, 65.79 percent in 1999, 61.70 percent in the 2008 Constituent Assembly election, 78.34 percent in the 2013 Constituent Assembly election, 68.67 percent in 2017, and 61.63 percent in 2022. As of midday in the current 2026 parliamentary election, turnout stands at 16.88 percent.
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