Nepal voted on Thursday (March 5, 2026) in its first election since September last year’s Gen Z protests, with preliminary estimates suggesting a turnout of 60%.
“Our preliminary assessment is that around 60% of votes were cast,” said Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari during a press conference on Thursday evening (March 5, 2026) , after polls closed at 5 p.m.
Polling began at 7 a.m. across all 77 districts to elect a 275-member House of Representatives — 165 under the first-past-the-post system and 110 under the proportional representation system. The Election Commission said voting concluded peacefully, except for some sporadic incidents in a few locations.
Nepal polls: a moment of hope or a return to the old cycle?
More than 18.9 million Nepalis were eligible to vote, with around 1 million added to the rolls since September’s protests, which claimed 77 lives.
