The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Dzongkhag Election Dispute Settlement Bodies and Central Election Dispute Body saw 16 disputes related to the final round of the second local government election.
Of the 16, seven were on corruption charges, five complaints were related to the Chiwog Zomdu, four on eligibility of candidates and four on violation of code of conduct.
While there was no major problem on poll day 10 polling stations faced some problem with the EVM (electronic voting machines).
“Those minor problems arose due to human error and mix-up of old and new sets of the EVMs which caused linking error but we could manage to fix those problem on time,”Chief Election Commissioner Chogyal Dago Rigdzin said. “The EVMs we have are 10 years old, being old and not used for a certain period of year has resulted in it not functioning properly.”
In Dangreybu-Ngagang Chiwog, Samtse Dzongkhag, 57 voters who had already cast their votes had to be recalled to recast their votes on a fresh EVM with the earlier EVM giving problems.
Similar cases were faced in Atola Chiwog, Mongar Dzongkhag, where the EVM for the Tshogpa could not be read.
The election results of the Thromde Ngotshab in Paro has been nullified and the candidate disqualified on the grounds of his criminal record conviction.
Along with the vacant demkhongs, the re-poll in Atola Chiwog will be held very soon, said the Chief Election Commissioner.
A total of 3,391 candidates contested the elections in addition to the rejection of the nomination of 32 candidates. Another seven candidatures were affected with the death of two contesting candidates, two cancellations and three disqualifications.
