Nepali abroad may one day vote without flying home. That is the idea behind recommendations an Election Commission study committee handed in on October 16.
The committee submitted its report to Chief Election Commissioner Man Bahadur Karki. It covers Nepalis overseas and also eligible voters who live outside the constituency where they are registered. The commission is expected to study the report further and talk to the government about next steps.
Three ways to vote
The committee proposed three methods:
- Postal voting: voters get ballot papers by post and send them back.
- Electronic voting machines (EVMs): machines at set polling places, which could include Nepali embassies or missions abroad.
- Internet voting: voters cast ballots online through a secure system.
It suggested trying postal voting and EVMs first, because a fully online system needs more technical capacity and security work.
Internet voting could come later, once the system is ready. Two teams did the study: a technical team led by Election Commissioner Rajiv Subba and a legal team led by Commissioner Guru Wagle.
The Bangladesh model
Nepal has been looking at Bangladesh’s postal voting system, which uses information technology. A Nepali Election Commission delegation went there in October. Commissioner Subba called the model promising.
As described in the committee’s report, voters register and verify their identity through a mobile app, then exchange sealed ballot papers by post. The report cited about 1.22 million participants among 1.5 million registered voters in Bangladesh’s overseas process. Nepal has not said it will copy that system.
Postal services, delivery times, local rules and the role of embassies differ from country to country, so a copy could work very differently here.
Under current arrangements, eligible Nepalis generally cannot vote from the country where they live. For a migrant worker, flying home to vote can mean paying for a ticket, taking leave and losing income. Students and other overseas Nepali face similar problems.
Living abroad would not make anyone eligible on its own. Rules would have to cover citizenship, voter registration and identity checks, and say which elections are included.
What stands in the way
- Law. Current election law does not cover registering overseas voters, polling outside Nepal or counting ballots cast abroad. A draft law has reportedly gone to the Home Ministry, but the changes are pending.
- Identity and fraud. The system has to stop duplicate voting and false registrations while keeping each vote secret.
- Cybersecurity and trust. Online voting raises risks of hacking, interference and system failure. It would need independent audits and a way for officials to show the count was fair.
- Cost and access. Postal voting, embassy polling and online systems all cost different amounts. Workers in countries with limited postal services face different barriers from those where the post works well.
A phased start in a few places may be more realistic than offering every method everywhere.
A long-running debate
Nepal has debated voting rights for citizens abroad for years. The commission began a fresh study of the legal, technical and administrative needs in August 2026.
