The ruling Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre) on Friday requested the Election Commission to conduct an extensive voter list update for holding the provincial and federal parliamentary elections.

They also urged the election body to extend the period for enrolling voters to one month from the planned 15 days. The EC has decided to update the voter rolls from Sunday until July 30 for the two polls slated to be held by November.

The commission made it clear, however, that the newly registered voters will not be eligible to vote in the third phase of local elections scheduled for September 18.

On Friday, an NC team of leaders Ananda Prasad Dhungana and Bal Krishna Khand and Maoist Centre leader Haribol Gajurel, among others, met Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav to press their demand. Representatives of both the parties were absent during the meeting organised at the EC headquarters on Wednesday.

According to the NC, the team advised the EC to conduct the voter roll update until mid-August, from the wards of rural municipalities and municipalities.

“Updating the voter lists only from the district headquarters, as the EC plans, is impractical and difficult for people geographically,” the party said. The Maoist team also suggested updating voters’ lists from the 744 local units.

Work to update the roll was halted on February 20 when the government announced the date for local level elections. A total of 14,054,482 citizens were listed as eligible to vote in the local level elections.