Nepal election: 18.9 million registered voters cast to votes on 5 March
Nepal is holding parliamentary elections on Thursday, a year after a youth-led uprising forced out the government chosen in the last elections.
The election is being held just three years after Nepal’s previous national vote, following the political upheaval that led to the government’s collapse in 2025.
That paved the way for an interim government, which later called for fresh elections. Nearly 19 million people are registered to vote in Nepal, according to the Election Commission. About 966,000 are men and 924,000 are women. Another 200 voters are registered under the “others” category, which includes people who do not identify as male or female and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The number of registered voters has risen by nearly 1 million since the last parliamentary election in November 2022, as the youth-led uprising sparked greater interest in politics. The voting age in Nepal is 18, and authorities had urged eligible young adults to register.
The youth-led uprising in September 2025 that brought down the previous government and triggered early elections has become a defining issue in the campaign. Political parties have pledged to amplify the voices of younger voters, promising to tackle corruption and improve governance.
Voters will directly elect 165 members to the House of Representatives, the powerful lower chamber of Parliament.
The remaining 110 seats in the 275-member House will be filled through a proportional representation system, with political parties nominating lawmakers based on the share of votes each party receives.
Previous government in Nepal have largely been coalitions, with two or more parties joining forces to command a majority in the House. The country has a history of political instability, having seen 15 governments in the past two decades.
The Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) are the long-dominant political parties. However, they had been part of the government ousted last year and have faced public dissatisfaction.
The National Independent Party, formed in 2022, has drawn significant support on the campaign trail. Former Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah, also an ex-rapper, is its candidate for prime minister.
