Nepal’s EC urges media not to disclose results of opinion polls before elections

Nepal’s electoral body on Tuesday urged media not to disclose results of opinion polls before the general elections as it may damage a “healthy competitive environment.” Nepal is set to hold the House of Representatives elections on March 5, the first since last year’s deadly Gen-Z protests that toppled the K P Sharma Oli-led coalition Government.

Nepal’s acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said: “Media should not disclose the results of such opinion polls ahead of the March 5 election, as it may disillusion voters and spoil a healthy competitive environment by discouraging the candidates.” He was speaking at a voter education and election awareness campaign in Kathmandu, attended by social media users, bloggers and actors.

Bhandari also cautioned social media users towards the possibility of distorting the neutral environment of the election through the misuse of technology.

He urged them not to spread misleading content created through artificial intelligence on social media sites during the election campaign. In a separate development, the printing of all ballot papers required for the election has been completed. Managing Director of the Government-owned Janak Education Material Centre Limited, Yadu Nath Poudel, said that the ballot papers would be dispatched to respective provinces soon. 

“We have completed the printing of 20.3 million ballot papers under the first-past-the-post electoral system on Monday evening,” he added.