Inadequate voter education programme is likely to cause a high percentage of invalid votes in the upcoming local level elections, stakeholders have expressed their fears.

In the column of open category ward members, from which two representatives are elected, single symbol is assigned to one candidate and double symbol to another candidate. This problem, however, is absent in case of “independent” candidates who have separate symbols for all the candidates.

This confusion was evident during a voter education campaign in Kathmandu on Thursday when volunteers struggled to clarify the matter to people.

“You cannot stamp twice in the column of having double symbol,” Rashmi Gurung, a volunteer mobilised to educate voters at the Sankhamul polling centre in Kathmandu was telling a voter.

This invited a query from a voter from the area why two symbols were given in a single box if a voter was not to stamp twice while there are single symbols in the other columns.

Gurung explained that this was meant to differentiate between the first and second candidates from the same party ranked in the alphabetical order of their names. Gurung faces this question commonly from voters as they are confused with the double symbol in a single box in the last column of the ballot.

In the first phase of local elections, polling is taking place in three provinces on Sunday. In the remaining four provinces, voting is being held on June 14.

In the second Constituent Assembly elections in 2013, the percentage of invalid votes under the first past the post category was 4.96 percent. “Due to a poor level of voter education, I feel there will be a higher percentage of invalid votes in the local elections,” said Lekhnath Adhikari, an assistant polling officer deployed at the Gyan Niketan School polling centre in Sankhamul, Kathmandu.

He shared his experience that an election officer deployed for the polls was clueless about how to vote for ward members in the open category.

Ram Maya Maharjan, an elderly voter, said she has general knowledge about voting but is still not confident enough. “I will ask my husband about it,” she said.

Political party representatives said they are yet to reach many voters due to time constraints. Diwakar Thapa, a party cadre found at the Nepal Commerce Campus polling centre, said he had not got enough time to educate people properly even though they met most voters.

The Election Commission on Thursday published notices on newspapers explaining the way to vote for ward member candidates in the open category.

“We identified this problem a week ago and decided to mobilise volunteers at the polling centres for three days with an aim to educate voters who come to collect their identity cards,” said Nawaraj Dhakal, joint-secretary at the EC.

“There is nothing we could do more to educate people given the limited period of time and the need for accommodating a large number of political parties.”