The Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) is gearing up for the third Thromde elections in three Class A Thromdes of Thimphu, Gelegphu and Phuentshogling. Beginning today, the Commission is contacting one registered voter from each household to collect data prior to the elections. This is expected to not only make the election process easy and comfortable for the voters but also minimise the risks of the spread of the coronavirus.
In light of the current pandemic situation, ECB has planned out things differently compared to past elections.
Phub Dorji, head of the Department of Civic and Electoral Training said, “for instance, if the person who is from Thimphu Thromde is staying in Punakha or Trashigang, then we will provide them with postal ballot so that they won’t have to travel all the way to vote. And for those who are here, we will try to station the voter booth nearer. But for that, we need to know how many people are staying here in the Thimphu Thromde. Based on statistics of the voters in the particular constituencies, we will install the voter booth so that crowd is minimised as far as possible.”
He added that the new initiative will help in minimizing the crowd during the election.
The Thromde Tshogdes of Thimphu, Phuentshogling and Gelegphu will complete their five-year term on 26th of next month. As per the Election Act 2008, the new Thromde Tshogde should be re-constituted within 90 days on the date of expiry of the current Thromde Tshogde.
There are seven constituencies in Thimphu Thromde followed by six constituencies each in Gelegphu and Phuentshogling. And there are around 10,000 voters in the three Thromdes.
Meanwhile, the election for the Samdrup Jongkhar Thromde Tshogde will complete its term in September this year.
Sonam Pem
