EC extends last date of voter registration for final election

DHARAMSALA, Nov 9: The Election Commission of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) on Nov 6 sent a circular to all the Regional Election Commissioners to extend the last date of voter registration for the final election of Sikyong of the 15th Kashag and members of the 16th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile to Feb 20, 2016.

Below is the English translation of the circular published on CTA’s official website Tibet.net :

To Regional Election Commissioner,

The voter registration for election of Sikyong of the 15th Kashag and members of the 16th Tibetan Parliament in Exile followed by preliminary election have been successfully completed. However, the Election Commission has been receiving applications for an extension of last date for voter registration specifically from Tibetans who could not apply for voter registration and a number of Tibetans who have recently crossed 18 years of age.

In order to address these problems, the Election Commission has decided to extend the last date of voter registration to 20 February 2016.

On the day of final round of election i.e., 20 March 2016, the regional election commission must make sure that every Tibetan who becomes 18 years old and those who couldn’t apply for voter registration have duly fulfilled annual voluntary contribution for the year 2015.

The regional election commission must ensure full responsibility in announcing the Election Commission’s decision to extend last date of voter registration and to make sure every Tibetan who is eligible to vote to register.

The regional election commission must send a list of new voter registrations with clear specifications of their respective provinces and schools of Buddhism via email to the election commission before 28 February 2016.

The Election Commission

6 November 2015