The Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB), as per the provisions enshrined under Section 442 of the Election Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan, 2008, has the honour to declare the names of the two registered political parties which have secured the highest and the next highest number of valid votes cast in the Primary Round (PR) of the 4th National Assembly Elections, 2023-2024. The Primary Round of elections was successfully conducted in all the 47 National Assembly Demkhongs in the twenty Dzongkhags with the poll day on 30th November 2023.
The votes secured by the five registered Political Parties that contested the Primary Round of the 4th National Assembly Elections, 2023-2024 are as follows:
| Sl. No. | Name of Political Party | Total Votes Secured | % of Total Votes Secured |
| 1 | Bhutan Tendrel Party (BTP) | 61331 | 19.58% |
| 2 | Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) | 41106 | 13.12% |
| 3 | Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) | 46694 | 14.91% |
| 4 | Druk Thuendrel Tshogpa (DTT) | 30814 | 9.83% |
| 5 | People’s Democratic Party (PDP) | 133217 | 42.53% |
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP),having secured the highest number of valid votes, and the Bhutan Tendrel Party (BTP), receiving the next highest number of valid votes in the Primary Round shall contest the General Elections, 2023-2024.
The overall voter turnout is 63%. Of the total 4,97,058 eligible registered voters, 3,13,162 voters cast their votes. From the total votes cast, 1,95,719 votes were cast in person on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at the 809 polling stations and 1,17,443 votes were cast through Postal Ballots (PB-In-country & Overseas) and Special Early Voting (SEV).
The detailed results are available at the Election Commission’s web page https://www.ecb.bt/NAPR2023.
With the formal declaration of the Results of the PR, the Election Commission of Bhutan invites the two Political Parties that secured the highest and next highesttotal number of votes to formally nominate one candidate each in all the 47 National Assembly Demkhongs, to contest in the General Elections as required by the electoral laws, from the accepted tentative list submitted along with the Letter of Intent (LoI).
The nominated candidates shall start filing their Nomination Papers to the respective Returning Officer starting from 4th December 2023. The last date for filing of nominations is on 9th December 2023, as notified, vide Notification No: ECB/NOTIF-01/2023/4403 dated 3rd November 2023, calling the 4th National Assembly Elections, 2023-2024.
The other three political parties, namely, Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT), Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT), and Druk Thuendrel Tshogpa (DTT) that contested the Primary Round are reminded to file the Returns of Election Expenses to the concerned Dzongkhag Election Office or directly to the Public Election Fund Division of the ECB within thirty days of the official declaration of the Primary Round results. The Returns of Election Expenses must be filed not later than 31st December 2023 in the prescribed form (Public Election Fund Form No. 9A (PR))
Issued on the 19th day of the 10th Month of Water Female Rabbit Year, corresponding to the 1st December 2023
Chief Election Commissioner of Bhutan
