With the government preparing to hold elections on March 5, 2026, more than 7,500 people have registered in the voter list in Rupandehi district. Most of those registering are young people.
At the Rupandehi Election Office in Bhairahawa, a crowd of youth has been gathering since 8 a.m. Among them, Geeta Thapa, who registered herself, said, “I stood in line from early morning to exercise my right to vote. Now, in every election, we should vote for capable and better candidates than ourselves. Even if we have to wait three to four hours, we are excited.” She also urged the new generation to register in the voter list.
Similarly, Krishna Thapa from Gulmi said he arrived at the Bhairahawa Election Office at 10 a.m. after finishing his exams to take photos and complete biometric registration.
Sanjay Kori from Rohini, Devdaha, said he had been in line since 9 a.m. “If voter registration facilities were available locally, we wouldn’t have to wait in line for hours. Now, at 26 years old, I’m coming to get my voter ID for the first time,” Kori added.
According to District Election Officer Kalpana Aryal, voter registration in Rupandehi has reached its final stage, with only four days remaining. “We are servants of the people. Until the service is complete, we are working at the office even late into the night,” Aryal said.
Aryal added that as of 12 p.m. on November 12, 7,584 people have newly registered, with about 80 percent being youth. “In the initial days, only 30–40 people came daily. Now, in the final phase, it’s been difficult for the office to handle the crowd,” she said.
Currently, two additional staff members have been deployed to provide services. On November 11 alone, 940 people newly registered, contributing to the increasing crowd in the final days.
According to data from the District Election Office, there are currently 643,874 registered voters in Rupandehi, including 313,405 male and 330,461 female voters.
Aryal said the arrangement allowing citizens from other districts to register in Rupandehi has also increased the crowd. “Not all registrations are from Rupandehi, many people have come from other districts to register here,” she said.
Voter registration and updating began on September 26 and will continue until November 16.