Voting peaceful in first Nepal election since September youth-led protests

Voting has been peaceful in Nepal's first nationwide election since a violent, youth-led uprising forced the government from power in September. Security forces are patrolling streets and guarding polling stations Thursday across the Himalayan nation of about 30 million people as voters line up to cast their ballots. Vote counting will begin later Thursday, with results expected over the weekend. Top election official says both election campaigning and voting have been peaceful and voter turnout expected to be around 65%. The election is widely viewed as a three-way contest with the National Independent Party founded in 2022 considered the front-runner.