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Bhutan Politics - Elections |
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Mock
Elections: "What do I do?"
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| Attired
in their best clothes and carrying lunch, the people of Pugli gewog, Samtse,
arrived in droves shortly after 9 am on 21 April 2007. They have walked
miles to participate in the national parliamentary Mock election on Saturday.
The
mood was celebrative as voters sat comfortably outside the polling booths
chatting and catching up with friends from other villages.
Their
appearance however changed as they, one by one, entered the polling booth
where the voting machine with four bright colours was placed. |
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"What
do I do?" asked a voter as he entered the booth. The polling officer shouts
out an explanation.
"But
what colour should I press?" asks the voter after the explanation. "Pick
the colour you like best," yells the frustrated polling officer. After
the beep the voter leaves with a sheepish grin on his face.
Jagat
Bahadur Limbu of Thomkay village under Pugli had seen a voting machine
before and knew how it worked. "There were two buttons and when I pressed
one a light blinked and shortly the machine buzzed," he recalls.
But
for the mock election he had not decided whom to vote for and he had no
idea about the four colours.
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| Beating the heat: voters share a jar of wate |
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A
group of students of Gomtu Middle Secondary School were of the impression
that they would know which button to press only after they were inside
the polling room.
Only
a few talked about the political changes which would soon be a reality
in Bhutan. Voters, however, asked frequently if it was compulsory to vote. |
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According
to a voter most of the women family members stayed behind because they
had to look after the cattle and some went to the hospital with the sick
children.
People
who worked in other districts were also the ones who did not show up for
the mock election. A few students studying in other districts however did
turn up for the mock election.
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minimum aged required to exercise the right to vote was another confusion
for both the voters as well as the officers presiding the election.
While
officer at the Uttarey polling station sent back children below 18 years,
Gomtu polling station approved children who were 17 years because they
would turn 18 years next year. |
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According
to the presiding officer of Pugli and Gomtu polling stations where people
of about 11 villages came to vote the voters who turned up to vote were
mostly not registered with the Election Commission of Bhutan.
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These
voters were those whose voter registration forms were not correctly filled
up, said the Pugli Gup, Lok Mani Gurung. "To make them eligible for the
mock election the dzongkhag office had issued a letter to be shown to the
polling officers for validation," he said.
One
of the setbacks which placed voters in an inconvenient position was the
polling station set up, according to Pugli Gup.
People
from Thotney village had to walk five hours to their polling station in
Gomtu. Thumkey village was suggested as a polling station for Thumkey,
Thotney and Ratey. "If they were under Thumkey it would have taken them
about one hour to reach the polling station," said the gup.
In
Pugli gewog from about 3,500 eligible voters about 1,635 cast their votes.
About 700 voters were not registered. |
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| Contributed
by Kinley Wangmo, Bhutan's National Newspaper, April 2007 |
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