There are three types of elections in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

: elections to the federal parliament, elections to the provincial assemblies and elections to the

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

. 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, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

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

parallel voting In political science, parallel voting or superposition refers to the use of two or more Electoral system, electoral systems to elect different members of a legislature. More precisely, an electoral system is a superposition if it is a mixture o ...

for the

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

and provincial assemblies,

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

for the

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 repr ...

, and

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

for local elections.

Latest 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 Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single ...

with the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

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 ...

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 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

(

) and the

(

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

). 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 of Nepal, constitution in 2015 after an earthquake, Nepal was divided into five development regions (), 14 administrative List of zones of Nepal, zones () and 77 List of districts of Nepal, distr ...

, 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 Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

. 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 A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

. 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 any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (political parties) among voters. The aim ...

and a further 26 members would be appointed. The

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

for the proportional voting had reservations for women,

Dalits Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for Untouchability, untouchables and Outcast (person), outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called ...

Indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

, 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

. The

and the

would be the lower chamber and the upper chamber of the new Federal Parliament of Nepal. The country was divided into 165 constituencies which would elect members to the House of Representatives through

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

and a further 110 members would be elected through the

. The provincial assemblies were also created for each of the seven

provinces of Nepal The Provinces of Nepal, officially the Autonomous Nepalese Provinces (), were formed on 20 September 2015 in accordance with Schedule 4 of the Constitution of Nepal. The seven provinces were formed by grouping the existing List of districts of ...

. The assemblies would be

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

and would elect 330 members through

and 220 members would be elected through the

. 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 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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 or 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 vi ...

, Federal Parliament, 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 (or parliament) is the simultaneous termination of service of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy ...

all the Members of Parliament forming the

of the Federal Parliament of Nepal are elected. The term for the

is five years, except when dissolved earlier. When the

is dissolved the power of Federal Parliament is carried out by the

. Candidates for each

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

seat are nominated by a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

or stand as independents. Each constituency elects one MP under the

first past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

system of election. As well, since Nepal uses a

system, voters cast another ballot to try to elect MPs through the

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a system of proportional representation based on preregistered Political party, political parties, with each party being Apportionment (politics), allocated a certain number of seats Apportionm ...

. 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 at least a third are not elected in the district seats, the party shall have to elect enough women to make up a third of its total number of elected members, through the

portion of the election. A party with an overall majority (more seats than all other parties combined) following an election forms the government. If no party has an outright majority by itself, parties can seek to form a coalition that is made up of a majority of members in the chamber and can pass laws.

By-elections

Source: * 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 * 1994 by-elections, 7 February 1994 ** Jhapa 1 ** Kathmandu 1 * 1997 by-elections, 24 January 1997 ** Sunsari 5 ** Kathmandu 1 ** Rautahat 2 ** Rupandehi 2 ** Baitadi 1 * 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 * Baglung 1, 11 April 2015 * Kaski 2, 30 November 2019 * 2023 by-elections, 23 April 2023 ** Bara 2 ** Chitwan 2 ** Tanahun 1 * Ilam 2, 27 April 2024

National assembly elections

According to Article 86 of the

Constitution of Nepal 2015 The Constitution of Nepal () is the present governing Constitution of Nepal. Nepal is governed according to the Constitution which came into effect on 20 September 2015, replacing the Interim Constitution of 2007. The constitution of Nepal is di ...

, 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 () is the central executive authority of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. The government is led by the Prime Minister of Nepal, prime minister (K. P. Sharma Oli, K.P. Oli since 15 July 2024) who selects all the o ...

Provincial assembly elections

Following the dissolution of the provincial assembly all the members forming the Provincial Assembly are elected. The term for the Provincial Assembly is five years, except when dissolved earlier. Candidates for each

are chosen by the

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

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

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. 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 ** Baglung 2 (B), Gandaki ** Dang 3 (B), Lumbini * Bajhang 1 (A), Sudurpashchim, 27 April 2024

Local elections

Elections are held for the municipal executive and municipal assemblies in

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

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 meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

or minority community (two in rural municipalities) elected by the local assembly through

single non-transferable vote Single non-transferable vote or SNTV is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote. Being a semi-proportional variant of first-past-the-post voting, under SNTV small parties, as well as large parties, have a chance t ...

. 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 meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

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

first past the post system First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

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