(TibetanReview.net, Apr26’26) – Just days ahead of the final poll for the election of the 18th Tibetan Parliament in Exile (TPiE), the Election Commission of the Central Tibetan Administration has communicated a finding of serious irregularities in the conduct of the preliminary poll back on Feb 1 by electoral officers in the Choejor settlement area of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.
According to the Tibetan media in Dharamshala, the finding was communicated on Apr 23 to the concerned settlement electoral officer, with the decision to annul for this time the settlement polling station as a venue for the final poll which is being held today. What this means is registered voters at this polling station will have to vote at some other polling station in Kathmandu or elsewhere.
The number of questionable preliminary votes cast in that polling station, which includes Boudha and Jorpati, apparently was was apparently not large enough to affect the final results, which means that Mr Penpa Tsering’s re-election as the Sikyong after winning 61.03% of the total number of votes in the preliminary poll stands, as does the lists of the various provincial and religious constituency candidates.
The investigation was stated to have been carried out following complaints of irregularities filed by outgoing TPiE members, election observers, media personnel, and members of the public.
The serious violations of the Electoral Rules and Regulations seen to have taken place at this station were stated to include numerous individuals casting multiple votes that numbered as high as more than 100, direct copying of serial numbers and names and descriptions of would-be candidates in a large number of cases in same handwriting, same ballot papers containing different hand-writings, ballot papers being distributed to households and community groups and collected days later in plastic bags, and ballots Papers being counted despite lacking proper candidate identifications or containing inconsistent details.
A US-registered voter was stated to have voted as a voter for registrees in India, Nepal, and Bhutan, thus voting for provincial candidates rather than for his current residential constituency candidates.
The election Commission has accordingly determined that the polling in that station has not been conducted in a free, fair, and secret manner as required, potentially affecting the outcome.
The election commission has noted that the concerned electoral officer, who has not been named, has not only denied any wrong-doing or irregularity in the conduct of the preliminary poll, but also tried to interfere in the investigation.