(TibetanReview.net, Apr15’21) – Counting of votes is still going on at a few places and official results are not due until May 14. However, supporters of Mr Penpa Tsering for the post of Sikyong, the executive head of the Central Tibetan Administration at Dharamshala, India, are already celebrating his victory as they see his lead in the unofficial results as unbeatable.
The unofficial results tabulated by three Tibetan news media sources on their websites show the following unofficial results as of Apr 15 at 8:00 PM IST:
| NEWS OUTLET | PENPA TSERING | KELSANG DORJEE | DIFFERENCE | TOTAL VALID VOTES | WEBSITE |
| Tibet Times | 32,682 | 27,241 | 5,441 | 59,923 | https://tibettimes.net |
| Radio Free Asia | 32,630 | 27,170 | 5,460 | 59,800 | https://www.rfa.org/tibetan |
| Tibet Sun | 32,890 | 27,444 | 5,446 | 60,334 | https://www.tibetsun.com |
And the tibettimes.net table of tallies appears shows that counting is yet to finish only at Tashiling in Nepal, Madison and Seattle in USA, and South Africa. If that is the case, Mr Penpa Tsering’s lead looks unbeatable.
With the number of registered voters being 83,079 and the above results already indicate a turnout of well over 70%.
The unofficial results all show Penpa Tsering in the lead by more than 5,400 votes.
The unofficial results show that up to more than 60,300 votes have been counted.
Counting has to be completed by May 4, which means unofficial final results will be out by then.
Penpa Tsering’s biggest win has come from the exile Tibetan heartland of Dharamshala where he is shown to have won 3,425 votes as against Kaydor’s 1,933.
Kaydor has done exceptionally well at Bylakuppe Lugsam and Mundgod settlements where the big monasteries, dominated by people of Kham origin, are seen as vote bank for fellow-Khampa candidates.
But he has also done well in U-Tsang dominated Ladakh, winning 1,241 votes to Penpa Tsering’s 1,236.
His hectic campaign tour just before the final poll appears to have won him many votes, but not enough to emerge the overall winner.
Penpa Tsering chose not to make any campaign tour, citing fears that public gatherings may spread the Covid-19 pandemic. He restricted himself to answering questions from the Tibetan public in online meetings to explain his agenda.
Official results for the Sikyong election are due only on May 14 and that of the parliament seats from May 14 to 28.
