CEC Sampath in Bhutan to witness polls

Bhutan has invited Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath as the lone observer for its second national elections to be held on Saturday.
Sampath, who arrived here today, said all 1935 electronic voting machines being used in the polls in the Himalayan nation have been given by the Election Commission of India.
"It is heartening to see democracy growing in Bhutan," he told PTI here.
Sampath is the only Chief Election Commissioner who has been invited by Bhutan Election Commissioner to witness the election process here.
There are 94 candidates for 47 constituencies where the polling will be held on Saturday.

There are 3,81,790 registered voters and 80,000 postal voters. Of these there are 187,917 are female voters. The highest number of voters are in Satse - 41,769 followed by Trashigang - 41,510.

Capital Thimphu has 12,453 voters. The lowest number of voters are in Gasa - 1,842 voters.
About 10,000 officers, including security personnel, are deployed for conducting free and fair polling.
There are 850 polling stations, including 215 temporary polling stations.