There are three types of elections in Nepal: elections to the

Federal Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...

, elections to the provincial assemblies and elections to the

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

. Within each of these categories there may be

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

s as well as general elections. Currently three electoral systems are used:

parallel voting Parallel voting is a type of mixed electoral system in which representatives are voted into a single chamber using two or more different systems, most often first-past-the-post voting (FPTP) with party-list proportional representation (PR). It ...

for

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and provincial assemblies,

Single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate ...

for

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

and

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

for local elections.

History

Rana regime

In 1947, the government of prime minister Padma Shumsher formed a Constitution Reform Committee under the leadership of General Bahadur Shamsher to reform the administration in the country. The Nepal Government Constitutional Law, 1948 envisioned a bicameral legislature with the lower house called Rastra Sabha to have 42 elected members in addition to 28 members nominated by the prime mininster. A provision was also included for an elected Village Panchayat with 5 to 15 members, an elected Municipal Panchayat with 10 to 50 members and an elected District Panchayat with 15 to 20 members. The elections for the bodies would be held on the basis of

non-partisan democracy Nonpartisan democracy (also no-party democracy) is a system of representative government or organization such that universal and periodic elections take place without reference to political parties. Sometimes electioneering and even speaking a ...

and all adults would have the right to franchise. The law was promulgated but never came into effect.

Transition era

The Interim Administration Act of Nepal, 1952 promulgated by King Tribhuwan after the end of the

Rana regime Rana dynasty ( ne, राणा वंश, IAST=Rāṇā vaṃśa , ) is a Chhetri dynasty that imposed totalitarianism in the Kingdom of Nepal from 1846 until 1951, reducing the Shah monarch to a figurehead and making Prime Minister and other ...

made provisions an Election Commission for the first time. The act also gave everyone in the country over the age of 21 a right to adult franchise. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1959, prepared under the advice of Sir Ivor Jennings created 109 constituencies in the country and reiterated the right to adult franchise for everyone over the age of 21.

Constitutional monarchy era

The constitution of 1990 had a provision for a bicameral parliament. The

( lower house) and the

(

upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...

). The country was divided into 205 constituencies which would elected members to the House of Representatives for a term of five years. The National Assembly had 60 members, 35 of whom would be elected by the electoral college of the House of Representatives, 3 each from the five

development regions of Nepal Prior to the promulgation of a new constitution in 2015 after an earthquake, Nepal was divided into five development regions ( ne, विकास क्षेत्र), 14 administrative zones ( ne, अञ्चल) and 75 districts ( ne, ज ...

, 15 in total, which would be elected by an electoral college of village, municipalities and districts and 10 members appointed by the

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

. The right to franchise was also extended to everyone over the age of 18.

Post Civil War

The Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007, promulgated after 2006 revolution had provisions for a

constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

that would draft a new constitution for the newly formed republic. The country was divided into 240 constituencies which would elect members to the Constituent Assembly of Nepal. In addition to this 335 seats to the assembly were to be filled using a

proportional representation system Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

and a further 26 members would be appointed. The party list for the proportional voting had reservations for women,

Dalits Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, Madheshis and people from backward areas. Women would also have to make up one-third of the seats in the assembly.

Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal

The Constitution of Nepal, 2015 that was drafted by the 2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly has provisions for a bicameral legislature. The

and the

would be the lower chamber and the upper chamber of the new

Federal Parliament of Nepal The Federal Parliament of Nepal ( ne, संघीय संसद नेपाल, translit=Saṅghīya Sansada Nēpāla, label=none) is the bicameral federal and supreme legislature of Nepal established in 2018. It consists of the National ...

. The country was divided into 165 constituencies which would elect members to the House of Representatives through

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

and a further 110 members would be elected through the party list

. The provincial assemblies were also created for each of the seven provinces of Nepal. The assemblies would be

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

and would elect 330 members through

and 220 members would be elected through the party list

. The National Assembly would elect 56 members through an electoral college consisting of members of the lower house, provincial assemblies and the heads and deputy heads of each of the 753 local units in the country.

Election Commission

The

Election Commission of Nepal The Election Commission ( ne, निर्वाचन आयोग, नेपाल; ''Nirvācana āyōg, Nēpāl'') is a constitutional body responsible for conducting and monitoring elections, as well as registering parties and candidates and r ...

is formed of five Election Commissioners, one of whom is Chief Election Commissioner and acts as the chairperson. They serve one term of six years and are appointed by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council. The Chief Election Commissioners and other Election Commissioners must hold a bachelor's degree, must not belong to a political party immediately before their appointment, must have attained the age of forty-five and must possess high moral character. The Election Commission conducts, supervises, directs and controls the elections for the

Vice-president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

, State Legislature and local bodies. It prepares a voters' list for the purpose of the election and holds referendums on subjects of national importance as per the Constitution and Federal law.

Legislative elections

Following the

dissolution of parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly is the mandatory simultaneous resignation of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy, the new assemb ...

all the

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

forming the

of the

are elected. The term for the

is five years, except when dissolved earlier. When the

is dissolved the power of

is carried out by the

. Candidates for each constituency are chosen by the political parties or stand as independents. Each constituency elects one MP under the

system of election. Since Nepal uses a

system, voters cast another ballot to elect MPs through the

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...

. The current constitution specifies that 165 MPs are elected from the

system and 110 MPs are elected through the

system. Women should account for one third of total members elected from each party and if one-third percentage are not elected, the party that fails to ensure so shall have to elect one-third of total number as women through the

. A party with an overall majority (more seats than all other parties combined) following an election forms the government. If a party has no outright majority, parties can seek to form coalitions.

By-elections

* 1959 by-elections, ** Constituency 52 (Bara Mid-East) ** Constituency 70 (Thalara Doti North) ** Constituency 91 (Gulmi South-West) * 1992 by-elections, 9 February 1992 ** Sunsari-2 **

Kathmandu 5 Kathmandu 5 is one of 10 parliamentary constituencies of Kathmandu District in Nepal. This constituency came into existence on the Constituency Delimitation Commission (CDC) report submitted on 31 August 2017. Incorporated areas Kathmandu 5 parl ...

* 1994 by-elections, 7 February 1994 ** Jhapa-1 **

Kathmandu 1 Kathmandu 1 is one of 10 parliamentary constituencies of Kathmandu District in Nepal. This constituency came into existence on the Constituency Delimitation Commission (CDC) report submitted on 31 August 2017. Incorporated areas Kathmandu 1 parli ...

* 1997 by-elections, 24 January 1997 ** Sunsari-5 **

** Rautahat-2 ** Rupandehi-2 **

Baitadi 1 Baitadi 1 is the parliamentary constituency of Baitadi District in Nepal. This constituency came into existence on the Constituency Delimitation Commission (CDC) report submitted on 31 August 2017. Incorporated areas Baitadi 1 incorporates th ...

* 1999 by-elections, 9 December 1999 ** Jhapa-6 ** Morang-1 ** Rautahat-4 * 2009 by-elections, 10 April 2009 ** Morang-5 ** Morang-7 ** Dhanusha-5 ** Kaski 1 ** Rolpa-2 ** Kanchanpur-4 * 2014 by-elections, 22 June 2014 ** Kathmandu 2 ** Chitwan-4 ** Bardiya 1 ** Kailali-6 * 2015 Baglung 1 by-election, 11 April 2015 * 2019 Kaski–2 by-election, 30 November 2019

National assembly elections

According to Article 86 of the

Constitution of Nepal 2015 Constitution of Nepal 2015 ( ne, नेपालको संविधान २०७२) is the present governing Constitution of Nepal. Nepal is governed according to the Constitution which came into effect on 20 September 2015, replacing the ...

, the members of the

are elected every six years through an electoral college. In addition to this, one-third of the members are retired every two years for six years by drawing a lottery. The electoral college consists of members of the provincial assembly and Chairperson/Mayor and Vice Chairperson/Deputy Mayor of the local bodies within the state. Each provincial assembly members vote has a weight of forty eight whereas each Chairperson/Mayor/Vice Chairperson/Deputy Mayor vote has a weight of eighteen. The electoral college elects 56 members to the National Assembly and three members, including one woman, are nominated by the president on the recommendation of the

Government of Nepal The Government of Nepal ( ne, नेपाल सरकार) is the federal executive authority of Nepal. Prior to the abolition of the Nepali monarchy in 2006 (became republic in 2008), it was officially known as His Majesty's Government. T ...

Provincial assembly elections

Following the dissolution of the provincial assembly all the members forming the

Provincial Assembly Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

are elected. The term for the Provincial Assembly is five years, except when dissolved earlier. Candidates for each constituency are chosen by the political parties or stand as independents. Each constituency elects one member under the

system of election. Since Nepal uses a

system, voters cast another ballot to elect members through the

. The current constitution specifies that sixty percent of the members should be elected from the

system and forty percent through the

. A party with an overall majority (more seats than all other parties combined) following an election forms the government. If a party has no outright majority, parties can seek to form coalitions. The first provincial assembly elections in Nepal were held on 26 November and 7 December 2017.

By-election

* 2019 by-elections, 30 November 2019 ** Bhaktapur 1(A),

Bagmati Province Bagmati Province ( ne, बाग्मती प्रदेश, ''Bagmati Pradesh'') is one of the seven provinces of Nepal established by the constitution of Nepal. The province is Nepal's second-most populous province and fifth largest provinc ...

** Baglung 2(B),

Gandaki Province Gandaki Province ( ne, गण्डकी प्रदेश ) ), is one of the seven federal provinces established by the current constitution of Nepal which was promulgated on 20 September 2015. Pokhara is the province's capital city. It borde ...

** Dang 3(B), Province No. 5

Local elections

Elections are held for the municipal executive and municipal assemblies in

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and for the village executive and village assemblies in rural municipalities. The local executive consists of the elected mayor (or chair in rural municipalities), the deputy mayor (or the deputy chair in rural municipalities) and ward chairs of every ward in the local unit elected through

and, five female members (four in rural municipalities) and three members of the

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

or minority community (two in rural municipalities) elected by the local assembly through single non-transferable vote. The assembly consists of the mayor (chair in the case of village assemblies), the deputy mayor (deputy chair in village assemblies), ward chais and four members from each ward of the municipality or rural municipality. Two ward members must be female, one of whom must belong to the dalit community or a

minority group The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

. All elections to the village assembly are held on the basis of

first past the post system In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

Referendums

There has been one referendum held in Nepal, The 1980 governmental system referendum of 2 May 1980.

References

External links

Election CommissionAdam Carr's Election Archiveनेपालको निर्वाचनको इतिहास
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elections In Nepal