In the last three days, postal ballot facilitation booths in Thimphu saw a voter turnout of 77.8 percent since the opening of the postal ballot facilitations and mobile booths on September 7.

Of a total 22,663 registered voters in north Thimphu, the six postal ballot facilitation booths saw 17,036 voters turn up to cast their ballots.

During the three days, ECB also operated mobile facilitation booths for the people with special needs. A mobile booth for the open-air prisoners in Lingzhi in north Thimphu saw three voters, all men, cast their vote. The mobile booth has 13 registered voters.

The five polling booths in south Thimphu saw a total of 9,551 of the 11,522 registered voters turn up to cast their ballots.

A total of 271 registered voters turned up at a mobile booth at Royal Thimphu College on September 7 and 9, while the mobile booths at the central jail in Chamgang and dzongkhag prison at the Royal Bhutan Police headquarters saw 262 (11 females) and 21 registered voters turn up to cast their ballots respectively.

The central jail has 439 registered voters for facilitation booths. The dzongkhag prison has 22 registered voters.

The booths in Thimphu remained open from 9am to 7pm for three days. Officials distributed token to those voters who came before 7pm.

Like in many dzongkhags, the facilitation booths in Thimphu saw a large number of female voters turn up to cast their postal ballots. Of a total of 32,185 registered voters for facilitation booths in Thimphu, about 19,538 are female. More than 18,000 female showed up at the 11 facilitation booths in Thimphu to cast their postal ballots.

South Thimphu’s returning officer, Pemba T Gyeltshen, said most of the registered voters who availed of the facilitation facility were dependents.

Dechen Tshomo

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