2018 Nepalese presidential election
The third presidential election of Nepal was held on 13 March 2018. As a new election law was developed and as, due to the Nepalese election in 2017, an electoral college could be established, the election took place three years after the previous presidential elections despite the presidential term of office actually being set at 5 years. The President was elected by an electoral college composed of the members of federal parliament and provincial assemblies. The total number of voters was thus 880, however the 331 members of Federal Parliament have a vote weight of 79, while the 549 members of Provincial Assemblies have a vote weight of 48. In total 862 lawmakers participated in the election leading to a turnout of 97.95%.
Electoral college
Candidates
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist)
| Name | Born | Current or previous positions | Province | Announced | Ref |
Bidhya Devi Bhandari | Bhojpur, Province No. 1 | Member of the Legislature Parliament of Nepal Minister of Defence Minister of Population and Environment Member of the House of Representatives from Kathmandu-2 Member of the House of Representatives from Kathmandu-1 | Province No. 1 | 7 March 2018 |
Nepali Congress
| Name | Born | Current or previous positions | Province | Announced | Ref |
| Kumari Laxmi Rai | Bhojpur, Province No. 1 | Member of the Legislature Parliament of Nepal | Province No. 1 | 7 March 2018 |
Results
Bhandari's election was supported by her own party, the Communist Party of Nepal and coalition partner Communist Party of Nepal as well as Federal Socialist Forum, Nepal, Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, Rastriya Janamorcha and Rastriya Prajatantra Party.| Candidate | Electoral College votes | % |
| Bidhya Devi Bhandari | 39,275 | 74.81% |
| Kumari Laxmi Rai | 11,730 | 22.34% |
| Invalid/Abstained | 1,496 | 2.85% |