The Election Commission of Bhutan is pleased to inform the people of the Kingdom of
Bhutan that the Bye-Elections and Local Government Elections in the Vacant
Demkhongs of 17 Dzongkhags were successfully conducted on 3rd of November 2012.
Only 2 Male Candidates contested the Bye-Elections for the post of Tshogpa in Trashi
Yangtse and Pema Gatshel, and 57 candidates contested for the vacant Tshogpa
Demkhongs (43 male and 14 female).
Out of the total of 13,398 Registered Voters in 42 Demkhongs, 3,085 Registered Voters
(1,505 Male and 1,580 Female) exercised their franchise on the Electronic Voting
Machines (EVM).
The overall Voter Turnout percentage is 23%.
Out of a total of 1,692 eligible Postal Voters, 1,016 are male and 676 are female.
3 Postal Ballots were received by the Returning Officers and all 3 Postal Ballots have
been found to be valid.
With the completion of this round of Local Government Elections, the latest tally of the
strength of the elected members to Local Governments in the entire Kingdom stands as
follows:
The List of Candidates elected are notified in the Notification No. ECB/CEC-NOTIF/2012/728 of 3rd of November 2012 in the print media and the full details of the Final Result can also be accessed from the Election Commission’s Website:
www.election-bhutan.org.bt/2012/Noti/03112012_NotiLGElection2012Eng.pdf
It may be noted that during this election, there was only one dispute reported which was dismissed as it was found to be baseless.
As the Election Petition period starts from 4th of November 2012 and shall end at 4.00 p.m. on 14th of November 2012, any aggrieved voter or candidate can file an Election Petition in a Dzongkhag Court on any decision of the Dispute Settlement Body or Election Commission including Poll Day proceedings and/or EVMs.
The elections were observed by 17 National Observers and conducted by 17 Returning Officers; 168 Polling Officials and 43 Presiding Officers, with the support and coordination of 17 Chief Dzongkhag Election Coordinators; 26 Deputy Chief Dzongkhag Election Coordinators; and 38 Assistant Chief Election Coordinators assisted effectively by the 17 Dzongkhag Election Offices.
The Bye-Elections and Local Government Elections in the remaining Vacant Demkhongs were conducted with an estimated budget of Nu. 5,000,000/- (Five millions only).
The Election Commission of Bhutan wished that all Demkhongs are filled up after the conduct of this Election. However, there will still be 25 vacancies nationwide including 3 Dzongkhag Thromde Thuemis and 22 Gewog Tshogpas, the details of which are available on the Election Commission’s Website:
www.election-bhutan.org.bt/2012/ElectionResult/VacantDemkhong.pdf.
It may be noted that other than Bye-Elections, elections to the vacant Demkhongs shall not be held until Local Government Election 2016.
We are happy to report that the Local Government Election went smoothly due to the adequate and dedicated security cover provided by the Royal Bhutan Police. On the Day of Poll, everything went smoothly and no problems were encountered in any of the Polling Stations and Counting Centers.
Above all, the Election Commission of Bhutan would like to thank the voters who came to vote, the entire team of dedicated election officials, security personnel and polling officers who worked tirelessly with commitment and enthusiasm. Further, we would like
to acknowledge support rendered by various Ministries, Departments, Dzongkhag/Dungkhag/Municipality Administrations and the Media Agencies.
The Election Commission of Bhutan looks forward to working together in the conduct of the Parliamentary Elections in 2013.
