Local-level elections will be held on May 13 and about Rs. 270 million worth of materials is being imported from abroad for it. The Election Commission has already made an agreement with the suppliers for the importing materials. 56 types of materials will be required for the upcoming elections.
The Election Commission has already permitted the concerned Provincial and Local Government for managing the 15 locally available materials in Nepal. About 65,000 ballot box is currently in stock with the EC, but Deputy Secretary and Assistant Spokesperson Surya Prasad Aryal said it will be hard to accommodate the ballot papers in the existing ballot box, as the format of the ballot paper will be bigger than that of the past.
Spokesperson Poudel explained the reason for importing saying the EC is only importing the materials that are not produced in Nepal. According to the commodity branch of the commissions, the imported materials will include 78 thousand units of voting booths, 204 thousand units of stamp pads, 78 thousand units of rubber mats, 26 thousand units of stapler machines and 208 thousand units of swastika imprints.
Similarly, the commission is agreeing to the supply of 52 thousand packets of brass seal, 26 thousand brass lacquers and 480 thousand security seals for the election. The total cost of the import will be Rs. 271,952,806 and the import of the voting booths will cost Rs. 127,891,000 alone.
