"Nepali citizens living abroad will be able to vote online or at embassies in the March 5, 2026 election."

In the past year, the government and the Election Commission explored options for external voting, including in-person polling at embassies, postal ballots and potential online systems. Policy briefs and news reports described pilot plans in 10 to 15 countries, raising public expectations that overseas citizens might participate in the 2026 vote.

However, in a formal briefing in early January 2026, the Election Commission announced that neither diaspora voting nor out-of-constituency voting would be implemented for the March 5 election. Officials cited the lack of timely legal amendments, incomplete diplomatic arrangements with host countries and unresolved technical and security questions, especially around online voting.

As a result, all valid votes in this election will be cast in person at polling centres inside Nepal’s territory, using paper ballots. Posts claiming that Nepalis abroad can vote online or at embassies in March 2026 therefore misrepresent earlier exploratory discussions and are false in the context of the current legal and operational framework.