Dechen Dolkar 

The Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) declared April 20, 2023 as the National Council poll day for the Fourth Parliamentary Elections yesterday.

According to the notification, the process of selecting the nominees from various gewogs and dzongkhag thromdes will begin from February 25.

The postal ballot registration for eligible postal voters will begin from today until March 15.

The last day for filing the nomination is on March 13.




On March 14, the respective returning officers will undertake the scrutiny of the nomination papers filed by the candidates. The candidates will also begin their election campaigns.

The election campaign fund of Nu 150,000 will be released to individual candidate on March 16. The day will also be the last date for candidates to withdraw if they so wish.

The candidates will have to end their election campaigns at 9am on April 18, two days before the poll day.

The election petition period will begin on April 21 and end on May 5.

The polling hours on poll day will be from 9am to 5pm. 




However, voters already in the queue at 5pm will be allowed to vote. The last voter present at that time in the queue will be given token number one.

The polls for the NC elections will be conducted at 811 polling stations in the country.

The VPIC or CID will be the valid documents for the identification.

Public debates for the NC elections will be conducted in the twenty dzongkhags in collaboration with BBS Television as per the guidelines for the conduct of public debates during parliamentary elections, 2023.




The candidates must be present at the dhamngoi zomdu at 9am sharp along with his/her photo measuring 2.3cm x 2.3cm for use on the EVM.