A total of 160 prison inmates currently serving sentences at the Saptari District Jail in Rajbiraj will be eligible to vote in the upcoming House of Representatives election scheduled for February 21.
During the 2079 BS House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly elections, only 47 inmates had exercised their voting rights. This time, the number of inmate voters has increased to nearly three times, according to data collected so far.
Saptari Jail Chief Gangalal Yogi informed that, during the voter record collection process initiated by the Election Office, 160 inmates were found eligible to vote. He stated that while 47 inmates voted in the previous election, the number has significantly risen this time.
At present, the jail houses 366 inmates across two blocks—‘A’ and ‘B’—including seven Indian nationals. District Election Office Chief Ramesh Kumar Joshi said that voter list verification is still underway and the final number will be confirmed within a few days.
He added that after detailed study, the District Election Office is preparing the final voter list. An temporary polling station will be established inside the jail to facilitate voting for eligible inmates.
As per the arrangement in place since the 2079 BS elections, prison inmates are allowed to vote, and this provision will continue for the upcoming election as well. However, inmates included in the voter list will be allowed to vote only under the proportional representation system.
According to the District Election Office, Saptari has four electoral constituencies with a total of 446,402 voters. For the election, 296 polling locations and 562 polling stations have been designated across the district.
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