Parties are filing nominations on Sunday and Monday for the local level elections slated for May 13. Nepal is holding the local elections for a second time since the promulgation of the constitution in 2015. The last elections were held in 2017 in three phases amid differences among the parties, particularly those from the Madhes region and some sections of the society who were opposed to some provisions of the constitution which they said further marginalised them. The 2017 elections were held on May 14, June 28 and September 18. This time the country will hold local elections in a single phase on May 13.

Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming polls as parties prepare to file nominations.

How many local federal units are there in the country?

There are 753 local units—six metropolitan cities, 11 sub-metropolitan cities, 276 (urban) municipalities and 460 rural municipalities.

How many members will be elected from the local elections?

A total of 35,221 representatives will be elected for various local federal units. In municipalities, 586 mayors and deputy mayors and in rural municipalities, 920 chairs and vice chairs will be elected. For 6,743 wards, as many chairpersons and 33,715 office bearers will be elected.

How many parties have registered with the Election Commission for local elections?

As many as 79 parties have registered themselves to contest elections at the local level.

What is this electoral alliance everyone is talking about?

Since Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba was appointed prime minister on July 13 with the support of the CPN (Maoist Centre), a group of the Madhav Nepal-led faction of the UML, Janata Samajbadi Party and Rastriya Janamorcha, Deuba wants to contest local elections under an electoral alliance, which means sharing seats at 753 local units among themselves. The Madhav Nepal faction that split from the UML in August last year is fighting the elections as CPN (Unified Socialist). The Janata Samajbadi too had split in August, leading to the formation of the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party.

While the ruling coalition is fighting elections under an alliance among five parties, the main opposition CPN-UML has decided to share seats with some fringe parties like Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Nepal Pariwar Dal and Loktantrik Samajbadi Party.

Has the ruling coalition divided seats at all 753 local units?

No. After a lot of struggle, it managed to reach a deal on seat-sharing in six metropolitan cities and 11 sub-metropolitan cities. The leadership has asked lower committees to decide on seat sharing. There, however, is confusion and discontent, especially in the Congress over the sharing of seats with four other parties.

How many people have registered themselves to vote in local elections?

A total of 17,733,723 adults enrolled themselves on the voter list. Of them, 8,992,010 are males, 8,741,530 females and 183 have been registered under the “others” category.

How many new voters are there for the upcoming local polls?

In 2017, there were 14,074,424 registered voters for local polls. This time, 3,659,299 new voters have been listed.

Which is the largest district in terms of voter numbers?

Morang is the largest district in terms of voter strength with 715,223 registered voters.

Which is the smallest district in terms of the voter number?

Manang, which has 6,496 registered voters.

Which is the largest local body in terms of voters?

Kathmandu Metropolitan City (300,242)

Which is the smallest local unit in terms of voters?

Narpa Bhumi Rural Municipality, Manang (448).

How many voting stations and voting booths have been designated by the Election Commission?

There will be 10,756 polling stations and 21,955 voting booths across the country.

Which district has the highest number of voting booths?

Morang (820)

Which district has the lowest number of voting booths?

Manang (28)

Which province has the highest number of voting booths?

Madhes (4,189)

Which province has the lowest number of voting booths?

Karnali (1,385)

How many security personnel will be deployed for the local polls?

The government has hired 100,000 temporary police for the polls. Besides, 70,000 plus personnel from the Nepal Army, 60,000 plus from the Armed Police Force and 30,000 plus personnel from the Nepal Police will be deployed for election security, according to government agencies.