Election Commission Predicts Coming Polls: More Participation at Lower Cost
Tuesday, 23 August 2005, 14:50
Dharamshala: More participation at a lower cost will be the determining factor in the calculus of change in the coming polls of the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies and the Kalon Tripa, according to the Election Commission of the Central Tibetan Administration.
The chief election commissioner at office. |
The numerical of registered voters has already made a dramatic leapâ€â€ÂÂ77,175 voters have registered in India, Nepal and Bhutan, a 15% increase from the last registered 65,321 in the year 2001 during the election of the incumbent 13th Assembly.
And respectively in Europe, the number of registered voters has risen to 2,252 from 1,500.
Adding that to the pending figures from the North America, where the count last time stood 2,330, the total registered voters may tot up to over 82,000.
Moreover, as the final or second round of election of both the Assembly and the Kalon Tripa will be conducted simultaneously in March 2006, the commission expects a boost in voter turnover.
Last time in 2001, 41,717 people (over 60% of the total 69,151 registered) voted in the final round of Assembly elections and 35,184 (over 52% of the total 67,376 registered) in the final round of the first direct election of Kalon Tripa.
According to the commission, the simultaneous election of both the Kalon Tripa and the Assembly will also reduce expenses.
The election of the incumbent Assembly and the first direct election of Kalon Tripa in 2001 cost nearly 1.2 million rupees.
Although a sum of over 1.3 million rupees has been sanctioned for this election, the commission believes the tally of actual expenses this time will be far lower than the 2001.