Kathmandu, March 5 -- More than half of the registered voters in Kathmandu Valley had cast their ballots by 3 pm on Thursday as polling for the House of Representatives election continued across the country.

According to the Election Commission, a total of 624,934 votes had been cast in the Valley's 15 constituencies out of 1,185,374 registered voters, representing about 51 percent turnout.

Provincial data showed varying levels of voter participation across the country by the afternoon. Koshi Province recorded the highest turnout at 58 percent, with 1,359,816 votes cast out of 3,574,310 registered voters.

Madhesh Province reported 1,097,570 votes cast from 3,636,414 registered voters, representing 54 percent turnout.

In Bagmati Provin...