| Nepal: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Election Integrity | ||
| Indicators | Score | |
| 17 | In law, is there an election monitoring agency or set of election monitoring agencies/entities? | 100 |
| 18 | Is the election monitoring agency effective? | 70 |
| 19 | Are elections systems transparent and effective? | 67 |
Indicator and sub-Indicator Details
| 17 | In law, is there an election monitoring agency or set of election monitoring agencies/entities? | |||||||
| 17: In law, is there an election monitoring agency or set of election monitoring agencies/entities? | ||||||||
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Comments: The Election Commission of Nepal, a constitutional body, is mandated to conduct, supervise, direct and control the elections. The Commission is composed of one chief election commissioner as head of the Institution, and four other election commissioners. The appointment is made by the president on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council. Any matters of national importance can be decided through referendum by the Constituent Assembly, provided its two-thirds majority of the total number of members present therein is in favor of and decides to that effect. The Election Commission has also been mandated to conduct such a referendum. So far as the local authorities are concerned, they are the decentralized statutory bodies. The periodic election of such bodies is also the responsibility of the Election Commission. References: *Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007 (Articles 128,129 and 157) *Local Self-Governance Act 1999 *Election legislation. The Law Commission of Nepal has listed a total of 168 Statutes/Acts (51 of them in translated English version and 117 in Nepali language) on its website. Most of the Statutes/Acts, therefore, can be found in [ LINK ], either in English or in Nepali version.
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| 18 | Is the election monitoring agency effective? | |||||||
| 18a: In law, the agency or set of agencies/entities is protected from political interference. | ||||||||
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Comments: The Election Commission is an independent constitutional body. Precise criteria have been prescribed for appointment to the Commission. Besides, the Legislative-Parliament Rules 2007, for the first time in Nepalese parliamentary history, provides for a parliamentary special committee on public hearings, which is mandated to conduct public hearings regarding appointments to constitutional posts. References: *Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007 (Chapter 14, Articles 128-130) *Legislative-Parliament Rules 2007 (Clauses 212 and 213)
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| 18b: In practice, agency (or set of agencies/entities) appointments are made that support the independence of the agency. | ||||||||
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Comments: The present office-bearers of the Commission were appointed after the endorsement of the parliamentary special committee. References: Election Commission Portal, [ LINK ] Media reports.
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| 18c: In practice, the agency or set of agencies/entities has a professional, full-time staff. | ||||||||
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Comments: Although the Constitution requires the government to provide the necessary staff, the core and full-time staffs are limited. The staffs deployed by the government for the electoral process largely come from different sectors and have different expertise and orientation. They may not be the professional enough to carry out the mandate of the Election Commission. References: *The Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007 *Election legislation. The Election Commission Portal, [ LINK ] Nepal Constituent Assembly Portal, [ LINK ]
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| 18d: In practice, the agency or set of agencies/entities makes timely, publicly available reports following an election cycle. | ||||||||
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Comments: The Election Commission is mandated to submit reports periodically. The reports are public documents, but the scope and content of the reports may sometimes be limited and might also lack essential information, particularly those posted on the web. References: The Election Commission Portal, [ LINK ]
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| 18e: In practice, when necessary, the agency or set of agencies/entities imposes penalties on offenders. | ||||||||
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Comments: Generally speaking, the Election Commission (EC) of Nepal has not been very effective in penalizing the offenders so far as poll malpractices are concerned. This problem was also reflected during the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections. Despite satisfactory performance in the CA elections, the Election Commission failed to penalize the violators. The experience, thus, suggests that the EC was not very effective and was occasionally unable to enforce its judgments on political offenders. The EC staff lacked the professional willpower to impose penalties on offenders. As the monitoring mechanism was weak and largely ineffective, the imposition of penalties was also very ineffectual. For instance, the EC could not do much to curb Maoist excesses. References: Media reports. Different media portals including Kantipur Publications, [ LINK ]
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| 19 | Are elections systems transparent and effective? | |||||||
| 19a: In practice, there is a clear and transparent system of voter registration. | ||||||||
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Comments: In exercising the powers conferred by the Act Relating to Electoral Rolls 2007, the Election Commission (EC) has framed detail provisions and procedures to collection and updating of electoral rolls, including publication of programs relating to electoral rolls, designation of employees (name registration officers, enumerators) for the tasks, the process of collecting names, verification of qualified and non-qualified voters and subsequent corrections and decision making by EC officials in finalizing the electoral rolls. The rules thus formulated also details out about the transparency of the electoral roll to ensure voters their rights to vote, including the process of publication of updated electoral rolls in the respective village district council/municipality, the application process for voters to correct or add their names and remove names from the electoral roll of a particular constituency, and the process to be adopted by the EC in ensuring appropriate amendments are made to the electoral roll. Information on temporary voters and the processes to ensure their voting rights are also explained in detail. Besides, details of the functions, duties and power of registration officers, including preparation of required copies of electoral rolls, inspection of electoral rolls and issuance of duplicate copies thereof, settlement of disputes, provision for certification of voters, required documentation and correspondence of EC work are provided in the rules. Although there is a formal process of preparing electoral rolls, there always remains, in every election, a widespread complaint of rolls not being up to date. Despite efforts to ensure that all eligible voters are included, there may be reports of omissions and additions. The legislation provides voters with sufficient time to check the accuracy of their registration. However, the practice of publishing names is largely centered in the district headquarters, which may be inaccessible for those who live in remote areas. The publication of voter lists is confined to paper. Due to the lack of an effective voter-education program, a large number of citizens remain unaware of the publication of voter lists, particularly the rural people. Consequently, some voters realize their names are not on the electoral roll only when they reach the polling booth. References: *The Act Relating to Electoral Rolls 2007 *The Rules Relating to Electoral Rolls 2007 Nepal Election Portal, [ LINK ].
Peer Review Comments: There have been reports of fraudulent voter registration. In a country like Nepal where there's less awareness about voting rights, chances of manipulating voter registration are high. Check out the web site of the Carter Center, which monitored the CA elections, at [ LINK ]
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| 19b: In law, election results can be contested through the judicial system. | ||||||||
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Comments: A formal mechanism for contesting election results has been established under the legislation, and it is practiced in Nepal. Previously, this issue was dealt by the Election of House of Representatives Act; Election (Crime and Punishment) Act; and the Local Body (Election Procedures) Act. All these laws, however, have been repealed as of now. References: *Election of Members of the Constituent Assembly Act 2007 *Election (Offenses and Punishment) Act 2007
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| 19c: In practice, election results can be effectively appealed through the judicial system. | ||||||||
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Comments: The Special Courts previously has heard complaints regarding election results. The legal provisions for complaints and appeals are included in a number of different legal documents now: the Election of Members to the Constituent Assembly Act; the Law on the Functions, Duties and Powers of the Election Commission; the Constituent Assembly Court Act, the Election Offenses and Punishment Act; and the Code of Conduct. The Interim Constitution provides for the establishment of a Constituent Assembly Court (CAC), which was approved in August 2007. The CAC has jurisdiction for electoral complaints related to the results of the elections and its decisions are final. The CAC has the power to invalidate elections upon serious electoral offenses that undermine the impartiality of the elections. The court can also annul the election of a candidate if the elected candidate has spent more money than the established ceiling for campaign expenditures. However, no case of such nature is reported to have been decided by the CAC as yet. There may be separate provisions for the upcoming periodic elections. Given the trend of judicial administration in Nepal, candidates may not be able to obtain prompt result due to the cumbersome court procedures. Although anyone can file a petition in these courts, only strong political contenders, who can influence the state mechanism, can make her or his case heard effectively. References: *Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007 *The Constituent Assembly Court Act 2007 *Election legislation. Nepal: Constituent Assembly Election April 2008, Report by Jeremy Franklin, NORDEM Report 9/2008, available at [ LINK ]. [ LINK ] (For details about the legislation)
Peer Review Comments: The laws and the courts for appeal do exist, but only a handful of cases have been decided by them.
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| 19d: In practice, the military and security forces remain neutral during elections. | ||||||||
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Comments: In past elections, especially those held during the royal regime and even before, in the Panchayat era, the security forces, particularly the police, were often misused by the government and the government-supported candidates in Nepal. In many cases, police personnel have not maintained neutrality during elections; they tend to support the political party that is in power. In the recently held Constituent Assembly (CA) election too, several candidates -- not those from the Maoist party obviously -- blamed police inaction for their defeat. Despite reports that the police have been trying to remain neutral, there were reports of them favoring or showing inclinations toward certain political parties. The political parties' major complaint was that the police did not provide them with the sufficient security, especially in their own constituencies, where they could not check Maoists' exploiting their voters. This is, however, a very controversial issue, as parties losing the election often tend to be negative so far as deployment of the state machinery in elections is concerned. Nevertheless, the neutrality of the security forces is yet to be ascertained in the upcoming election, especially once the new constitution is promulgated, and the election held subsequently. However, many doubt that the confrontation of major political parties will hinder the process; hence, the constitution will not be promulgated in time. References: Media reports Interview with Mr. Rajkumar Shiwakoti, Advocate and General Secretary of Human Rights and Democratic Forum
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| 19e: In law, domestic and international election observers are allowed to monitor elections. | ||||||||
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Comments: Domestic and international observers can monitor the electoral process. However, a large number of polling sites may go unobserved because of geographical constraints. Nevertheless, no burdensome regulatory or bureaucratic requirements have been imposed on observers to discourage their involvement. References: Election Observation Directives 2007
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| 19f: In practice, election observers are able to effectively monitor elections. | ||||||||
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Comments: The trend of election observation by international observers has increased significantly in Nepal. There were widespread presence of international observers for the Constituent Assembly election, more than in any past election in Nepal. However, many polling booths did go unobserved due to geographical constraints. Besides, there were reports of various political parties and their sister organizations directly or indirectly obstructing the election observers in certain polling stations where concerned political parties had a strong influence. References: Media reports.
Peer Review Comments: International observers come by the hundreds to Nepal during elections, but hardly go to the rural and remote areas. Most of them station themselves in towns and cities. Nepal is vastly rural and remote so these observers do not reach a large portion of the population.
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