October 20, 2015: The Office of Tibet would like to thank everyone who participated in the Tibetan primary elections for the Sikyong and the two North American Chitue seats on October 18, 2015. The elections went off smoothly, turnout appears to be strong, and the sealed ballots are now beginning to arrive at the Office of Tibet.
Counting of votes will commence on October 31st and this will be done by a committee comprising of North American Election Committee members and observers. Official results will be posted on the Office of Tibet website and Facebook on November 1.
We had initially hoped to begin counting the votes sooner, but had to request The Election Commission for more time as the ten days following the elections was coinciding with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit to the United States. Had His Holiness’ visit not been cancelled then both the North American Election Commissioner and the Deputy had visit-related responsibilities as well.
Lastly, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the members and observers of the North American Election Committee. They did commendable work during the primary elections. Committee members are all serving as volunteers. Many of them have taken time off from work and are coming to Washington DC (for the counting and observing) at their own expense.
