Staff reporter 

Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) is collecting data of voters of Thimphu, Phuentsholing, and Gelephu thromdes.

Through its Facebook page, the commission notified that officials would contact a member of a registered household in the thromde on January 20.

The commission requested concerned voters to provide the information.

An official from ECB said the office had begun registering voters for the upcoming thromde elections and they would share the number of registered voters once it was finalised.

Section 100 of the Election Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan 2008 mandates thromde election voters to be registered in the civil registry and have a household number or civil registration in that town for not less than one year. To have a household number or census in the town, the voter should own land or property.

In 2016, thromde elections in Phuentsholing saw 387 individuals voted out of 776 eligible voters,  Gelephu had 677 individuals voted out of 1,121 registered voters.

In Thimphu, out of the total 7,278 registered voters, 2,257 voted in 2016 election which was a decrease of 19.75 percent voter turnout compared to the first thromde election in 2011.

The Thromde tshogde of Thimphu, Phuentsholing and Gelephu will complete their office on February 26, 2021.