In the draft electoral roll, as of Friday, so far there were a total of 431,743 eligible voters of which 210,870 are male and 220,603 are female.
So far, Trashigang has the highest number of eligible voters with 47,057 and Gasa has the lowest with 2,000.
The Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) issued the draft electoral roll and draft postal voters list for the NC elections on February 15. The notification was issued for public inspection and filling of claims and objections as required under Section 112 of the Election Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan 2008 and Section 4.1 of the Postal Ballots Rules and Regulations of the Kingdom of Bhutan, 2018.
A notification from ECB states that eligible voters must report to the respective Dzongkhag Electoral Office from February 16 to 25.
The claim is a correction against wrongful or non-entry of one’s information in the electoral roll and an objection is objecting to someone who has been wrongfully included in the electoral roll, if any.
The notification states that all eligible voters are invited to verify and ensure that they are included in the electoral roll and the postal voters’ list and their details correctly reflected in it.
The ECB’s spokesperson and the head of election department, Sonam Tobgyal said that the number of eligible voters is subject to change until the freezing period.
He also said that ECB has issued and is still issuing the Voter Photo Identity Card (VPIC) for voters and that the commission requests the people to collect the VPIC.
The draft electoral roll and draft postal voters list can be viewed in the respective Dzongkhag Electoral Office, the Election Commission’s Head office in Kawangjangsa or at the Election Commission’s website.
The final electoral roll will be published and provided to the Returning Officers by March 23 and the candidates will be given their copies, if requested by March 23.
ECB has also notified that eligible postal voters wishing to exercise their franchise through the postal ballot must register as a postal voter with the Election Commission latest by March 8.
ECB has declared April 20 as the poll day for NC elections. The polls for the NC elections will be conducted in a total of 866 polling stations.
Dechen Dolkar from Thimphu
