Postal voters living overseas worried that their ballots may not make it on time, Chhoekhor_Tang bye-election

Voters of Chhoekhor_Tang constituency living overseas, particularly in Australia, are worried that their postal ballots may not make it on time for the on-going bye-election. 133 individuals spread across fifteen foreign countries registered for postal voting out of which almost a hundred of them are in Australia.

 Out of the 137 applicants registered for postal voting, four have been left out, as their contacts and email address couldn’t be traced. Besides, voters are now worried if their ballots would reach Bumthang by 18^th November which is the last day for receiving postal ballots. They said mailing companies are not accepting their ballots.

“I went to DHL this morning but they told me to sign an undertaking letter stating that it’s absolutely the voter’s discretion to use DHL to mail their ballots and that they won’t be responsible if the ballots get delayed. Their estimated delivery date is 18^th November, which is also the last day to receive ballots. So we had to take the risk and send the ballots,” said Pema Namgyal, a voter currently in Canberra, Australia.

“We went to an Australian postal office but they didn’t agree to deliver our mail as there are limited flights from Australia. Then we went to DHL but they also said it is going to take 15 to 20 days for the ballots to reach Bumthang and they were apprehensive about accepting our mails. So, we are worried,” added Kencho Tshering, also a Chhoekhor_Tang voter currently living in Perth, Australia.

The Office of the Returning Officer in Bumthang said they are working with Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) to further facilitate overseas voting at the earliest.

“Most of the registered overseas postal voters are in Australia. So we are planning to appoint an Assistant Returning Officer in Australia and also set up a counting centre there. This is yet to be approved. The ECB will make an announcement by tomorrow after it is confirmed,” said Jambay Dorjee, the Returning Officer for Chhoekhor_Tang bye-election.

For voters who have already mailed their ballots, the ECB will refund the mailing charges in case the arrangement of appointing an Assistant Returning Officer gets approved. Ballots were sent as soft copies this time through emails on Tuesday in the interest of time. Voters have to print out the postal ballot forms to cast their votes.

Meanwhile, there are 1400 in-country postal voters for the bye-election.

Kipchu