Kathmandu, Sept. 24 -- President Ramchandra Paudel on Tuesday issued an ordinance to amend the Voter Registration Act to ensure that thousands of young voters from the Gen Z age group can exercise their franchise in the upcoming March elections.

The government had recommended the ordinance after Section 4, subsection 2 (2) of the Act barred voter registration once the election date had been declared.

Section 4, subsection 2 (2) of the Voter Registration Act, 2017, stipulates, "No person shall be registered in the voters' list for the purpose of an election after the date of that election has been declared."

Without the amendment, many first-time voters including those who spearheaded the recent political transformation would have been ...