NGAWANG JAMPHEL | Thimphu
As preparations for the Fourth Thromde elections pick up speed across the country, women continue to make up a large part of the candidate pool.
However, a closer look at the nominations shows that while women are highly active at the grassroots level, female representation in the highest leadership offices is still very low.
According to official data from the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB), women account for nearly 40 percent of all candidates running for the posts of Tshogpa and Thrompon in Thimphu and Phuentshogling.
While local political observers view these figures as a good sign of women’s interest in local government, the numbers split sharply when looking at the specific roles they are running for.
Of the 14 candidates who filed their nominations to run for Thromde Tshogpa across Thimphu and Phuentshogling, six are women and eight are men.
This nearly equal distribution shows that communities are becoming more comfortable with women handling local neighborhood affairs.
However, this positive trend drops drastically when it comes to executive leadership. Out of the four candidates running for the top office of Thrompon, only one woman has stepped forward.
She is running exclusively in the capital, Thimphu Thromde, leaving the southern commercial hub of Phuentshogling with an entirely male mayoral race.
Local governance analysts in the capital note that the data shows a strong willingness among women to serve their local communities, but making the jump from grassroots leadership to managing an entire city as a Thrompon remains a significant challenge.
The setup of this year’s municipal polls looks very different from previous years. In the 2021 Thromde elections, nine female candidates took part in the process. However, that election cycle included Gelephu Thromde in its national total.
In the current 2026 election cycle, Gelephu Thromde is completely absent from the electoral map. The southern municipality’s administration was formally handed over to the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) special administrative region, narrowing the municipal elections down to just Thimphu and Phuentshogling.
Despite having fewer participating urban centers this time, women’s overall political participation across Bhutanese local government has been going up. During the last nationwide local government elections, a historic 491 women ran for various posts, and 183 of them successfully won elected seats.
Despite these small victories at home, Bhutan’s performance on international rankings continues to lag behind, highlighting a deeper issue with gender balance in politics.
According to the latest Inter-Parliamentary Union’s (IPU) Women in Politics 2026 global ranking, Bhutan ranked 176th out of 182 surveyed nations. This low position shows the kingdom’s persistent challenges in turning legal equality into actual seats in both local governments and the national parliament.
Sociologists and political commentators point out that while Bhutanese law guarantees equal rights, deeply rooted cultural ideas about leadership roles and household duties still quietly discourage women from entering high-profile political races.
To provide a clearer view of the upcoming vote, the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) has released the full breakdown of registered voters. As per the Final Electoral Roll issued on 15 June 2026, the total registered voters for the two active Thromdes stands at exactly 10,309.
The capital city holds the overwhelming majority of this number, with Thimphu Thromde recording a total of 9,157 registered voters. This total is further divided into 4,204 male voters and 4,953 female voters, showing a very strong female presence in the capital’s voting pool. In contrast, Phuentshogling Thromde has a much smaller voter map, registering a total of 1,152 individuals. Of these, 563 are male and 589 are female voters.
These charts display a consistent trend: female voters actually outnumber male voters in both cities, creating a sharp contrast to the low number of female leadership candidates.
As part of the steps to ensure an inclusive election, the ECB has finalized the processing of postal ballot applications. A total of 1,518 valid applications were registered for the upcoming polls, while 47 applications were rejected after close review.
The ECB detailed that out of the 47 rejected applications, 15 applicants were found to be completely unregistered as voters within the Phuentshogling and Thimphu Thromde areas. The remaining 32 did not meet the specific rules required to qualify as a legal postal voter under current regulations.
The security and handling of these postal ballots remain a high priority for local election offices, with early voting facilities set up to help civil servants, security personnel, and overseas residents who are eligible to vote.
The official election campaign period began nationwide on 21 June 2026 and will continue until the start of the “No Campaign Period” on 13 July 2026. This gives candidates a clear window to share their plans, visit voters at home, and explain their ideas to the public.
Within this campaign window, Common Forums will be organized systematically by election authorities to give the public equal access to all competing voices.
In Phuentshogling, Common Forums are scheduled to run from 29 June to 1 July 2026. Meanwhile, Thimphu will host its forums from 29 June to 3 July 2026. These platforms give voters the chance to hear directly from candidates in person while keeping campaign costs low.
A major highlight of the election process will be the official public debates arranged for the Thrompon candidates. Organized in partnership with the Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation (BBSC), these debates will be broadcast to help voters make up their minds. The Phuentshogling Thrompon debate took place on 25 June 2026 at the College of Science and Technology, while the Thimphu Thrompon debate was held on 27 June 2026 at the RUB Conference Hall in the capital.
The ECB continues to urge all eligible voters to closely follow these public debates and campaigns to make an informed choice. The technical and logistics teams of the ECB are working hard to ensure a smooth voting experience on Poll Day, which is scheduled for 15 July 2026.
