Learning from the delay in vote count during the local level polls, the Election Commission is preparing to announce the results of the federal parliament and provincial assembly elections within a week.

The counting of ballots cast on November 26 would begin as soon as voting for the second phase of polls concludes at 5pm on December 7 while it takes a while for fresh ballots to be gathered at the district headquarters.

During the local level elections, an issue related to one stamp could hamper all the seven votes on a single paper but counting is expected to be easier this time with separate ballots and fewer poll symbols for the first-past-the-post race.

In a new arrangement, chief election officers for the districts will set up separate offices to pass updates to the media, according to EC Spokesperson Navaraj Dhakal. He said the EC was making all the technical and managerial preparations to complete vote counting within a week in all the constituencies. EC officials said the poll authority has also added incentives for those responsible for counting the votes.

Addressing an interaction organised by the Federation of Nepali Journalists on Saturday, Bhaktapur Chief District Officer Drona Pokhrel said they have designated two information officers for effective and hourly flow of information related to the vote count for the two constituencies of the district. Addressing the interaction on “press freedom and use of voting rights”, CDO Pokhrel said media would get hourly updates.

Recalling incidents during the local level elections when the information disseminated by the media did not match the actual data, the district administration said it wants to avoid the error this time around.