Nepal election 2026: When will we get the results?

Nepalis go to the polls on 5 March to elect a new government.

The general election is the country's first since deadly youth-led anti-corruption protests toppled the government in September 2025.

The Himalayan republic has since been led by an interim government under former chief justice Sushila Karki, which promised to hold fresh elections and hand over power within six months.

Here is everything you need to know about Nepal's vote.

The election commission has promised to release the results of the 165 directly elected seats within 24 hours from when counting starts, but the process of collecting ballot boxes from across the mountainous country and delivering them to count centres typically takes at least a day.

It could take another two to three days to tally the results of the proportional representation vote, officials said.

So if the election commission keeps its word it would be a huge departure from how long it typically takes for results to be released in the country.

Ram Prasad Bhandari, the chief election commissioner, says he is committed to finish counting by 9 March.

During the last election in 2022, it took nearly two weeks for results to be released.

This is because some polling stations are located in difficult, hilly terrain – more than 80% of Nepal is mountainous – which makes the collection of ballot boxes a challenging logistical exercise.

Some need to be carried down by hand, for instance, while others have to be airlifted in and out of polling stations.

Planes and helicopters are also not allowed into some remote areas after dark, which often means collection can begin only the next morning. Bad weather also interferes with the collection process.

In one remote village in Mustang district, where just four villagers were registered to cast their votes, 20 officials were deployed to deliver election materials as well as to supervise voting and ensure security on election day.

A further 35 eligible voters from the village live in other parts of the country, but recent heavy snowfall has made it difficult for them to return.

Nepal's law requires citizens to cast their ballots in their registered constituency, which is often where they were born.

Counting of votes, which is done by hand, also takes a long time. Every political party would dispatch representatives to the counting centres and they will inspect every open ballot cast before they are counted.

These representatives have sometimes been known to dispute issues like results and the validity of votes, which had previously led to recounts, further delaying the process.

Nearly 19 million people, including almost a million first-time voters, are registered to take part in the ballot to elect 275 members of parliament.

Of that total, 165 will be elected through first-past-the-post voting, meaning the candidate with the most votes wins the seat. The other 110 MPs will be selected via proportional representation (PR), which takes into account the proportion of votes cast for a political party.

This two-system format makes it difficult for any one party to win outright, so whoever comes out top in the election will most likely need to govern in a coalition.

According to the election commission, there are 6,541 candidates in total. Some 3,406 are standing in directly elected seats - more than 1,000 of them aged under 40 - while 3,135 candidates are contesting under the PR system.

Voting was to start at 07:00 local time (01:15 GMT) and continue until 17:00 local time.

However, polling booths are likely to stay open later in some parts of the country to allow all those wishing to vote to cast their ballots. In past elections, voting has continued until 21:00 local time in some constituencies.

One of the most closely watched politicians is Balendra Shah, the 35-year-old former mayor of Kathmandu, who will take on former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in Jhapa-5, a constituency that has traditionally been Oli's stronghold.

The 74-year-old and his government were forced to resign last September amid mounting public anger at long-entrenched corruption and social inequality in the Himalayan republic.

Shah is representing the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which came in fourth in the last general election in 2022. Many analysts expect it to perform much better this time. Shah has also been projected as the RSP's prime ministerial candidate.

The Nepali Congress, the country's oldest and largest party by membership, is also a strong contender. The party has won several past elections, including the most recent one in 2022. It is currently led by four-time parliamentarian Gagan Thapa.

The other main players are Oli's party, the Communist Party of Nepal UML, which won the second-largest share of seats in the last election and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) led by former Maoist leader Prachanda.

The 15 seats in the Kathmandu Valley will also be closely watched as this is seen as a good indication of where the urban vote is going.

The authorities said 77 people were killed during last September's demonstrations, many of them protesters shot by police. Crowds set fire to many buildings, including parliament, the Supreme Court and central government secretariat.

The protests were triggered by a ban on social media but fuelled by anger against corruption, unemployment and economic stagnation.

These are the main issues in the 5 March vote.

Most political parties have put particular focus on issues such as better governance, fighting corruption and reducing employment in their manifestos, which is being widely seen as a nod to the frustrations that led to the toppling of the previous government.

The Nepali Congress, for instance, has proposed holding a high-level investigation into the assets of public office holders since 1990.

This election has important geopolitical ramifications too.

Neighbouring India, which has historically had an outsized role in Nepal's political history, is watching closely. It has had a fractious relationship with former prime minister KP Sharma Oli in the past.

This is primarily because it sees Oli as someone who has actively pursued a closer relationship with China, India's rival, during his several terms as prime minister.

China has a major influence in Nepal and will be hoping that any future government is supportive towards its interests in the country, including the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The US has also been playing a role in this election and has been more aligned with India in terms of its strategic objectives, observers say.