IFES Election Guide | Country Profile: Bhutan

Kingdom of Bhutan

826,229	9
Population (as of Feb. 8, 2019)	Elections in our database
	60.05%
Registered Voters (as of )	Average Turnout

Name	Official Name	Type
Bhutanese National Assembly	Gyelyong Tshogdu	Lower House
Bhutanese National Council	Gyelyong Tshogde	Upper House

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: King Jigme Khesar Namgyel WANGCHUCK
Head of Government: Prime Minister LOTAY Tshering
Assembly: Bhutan has a bicameral Parliament (Chi Tshog) consisting of the National Council (Gyelyong Tshogde) with 25 seats and the National Assembly (Gyelyong Tshogdu) with 47 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The King is hereditary head of state.
Prime Minister is appointed by the monarch.
In the National Council (Gyelyong Tshogde), 20 members are elected by majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 5 members are appointed by the monarch to serve 5-year terms*. In the National Assembly (Gyelyong Tshogdu) 47 members are elected by majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.**

* Members of the upper house National Council cannot belong to any political party.

** Members of the lower house National Assembly represent political parties.

Elections

Election For	Date	Votes	Registered Voters	Turn Out
Bhutanese National Council	2007-12-31	147,789	269,337	54.87%
Bhutanese National Assembly	2008-03-24	253,012	318,465	79.45%
Bhutanese National Council	2013-04-23	168,180	379,819	44.28%
Bhutanese National Assembly	2013-05-31	211,018	381,790	55.27%
Bhutanese National Assembly	2013-07-13	252,493	381,790	66.13%
Bhutanese National Council	2018-04-20	234,470	432,030	54.27%
Bhutanese National Assembly	2018-10-18	313,473	438,663	71.46%
Bhutanese National Council	2023-04-20	265,441	485,811	54.64%
Bhutanese National Assembly	2024-01-31	-	-	-

Voter Turnout