Of the 1,648 conventional postal ballots the Office of the Returning Officer received in Zhemgang, 237 were rejected as of yesterday. 

Of the 237 rejected, 201 were rejected for lack of identify declaration certificate (IDC) while 19 were rejected for not having the ballots signed by a witness. There were six ballots that were not signed on IDC while eight ballots were placed in the outer envelope and one did not have a citizenship card number. Two ballots were rejected because the envelopes were empty.

A total of 1,411 (male 1,180 and female 231) Envelope B postal ballots were accepted. The segregation of postal ballot began on April 18.

None of the 2,037 (male 1,060 and female 977) postal ballots received from the facilitation booths were rejected. In an earlier interview, the returning officer said that 688 people voted through the postal ballot facilitation booth. A total of 917 voters registered to vote through the facility. 

There are 4,835 voters who registered to vote through the conventional postal ballot in Zhemgang.

Assistant returning officer Sonam Wangchuk said that while sorting out the postal ballots, a common mistake they noticed was the absence of an IDC and witness signature. “Some voters have signed as their own witness,” he said.

He said that the Election Commission of Bhutan has extended the postal ballot receiving time until 9am today. 

Meanwhile, campaign posters on election advertisement boards that are within a distance of 100m from polling stations have been removed. 

National observer Kinley said candidates or their representatives are expected to remove their posters. “This issue has been discussed at the refresher course and all candidates are aware of it,” he said.

Zhemgang has 18,396 eligible voters of which 9,076 are male and 9,320 female. 

Ugyen Dorji | Zhemgang