The Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) has set May 24th as the day for electing local government officials in 205 districts. On March 10th candidates interested in contesting were asked to obtain the necessary clearances required for filing their nominations by the deadline of April 15th. Between April 15th and April 25th nominations will be filed and candidates will be selected, after which campaigning will start. The newly elected officials will assume office on July 1st. Meanwhile, all existing local government bodies, including municipal and town committees, have been dissolved, effective from April 8th.

Many candidates have reported difficulties in obtaining clearances, however. Unlike in the past, when candidates were only required to produce around four documents, candidates for this election are required to produce numerous documents-such as a court affidavit, sales tax and asset declaration certificates, and audit clearances-before filing their nominations. Part of the problem is that the ECB had hoped to use a single-window clearance system, which would allow candidates to obtain all the documents from a single point, rather than going to a different government department to procure each document. However, the relevant agencies were unable to come up with an online system for this. Many candidates who had expected to use the single-window system are now worried that they may not be able to obtain all the required documents before the nomination day.

Some constituencies may even end up without a candidate for this reason, or because the constituency does not have an eligible candidate. If that happens, the ECB will postpone until further notice the election for that constituency. To prevent such an eventuality, and also to increase the number of voters in a constituency, the ECB has said that a voter whose census status is confirmed in a given constituency on the date of filing of nomination papers will be considered eligible to be nominated as a candidate for the elections, or to vote in that constituency. More than 200 voters and candidates have already transferred their census status to the constituency of their choice.

The ECB has also set out some rules for the election campaign. It has set a ceiling of Nu50,000 (about US$1,100) per candidate for campaign expenses. During the campaign period common gatherings will also be arranged at which all candidates can speak, thus removing the need for candidates to organise public meetings separately. However, candidates will be allowed to conduct door-to-door campaigns. Members of parliament have been discouraged from making trips or official tours to their constituencies until May 25th; they, as well as religious personalities and political party members, have also been asked not to campaign directly or indirectly on behalf of any candidate. A total of 1,101 polling stations will be established for the elections.

Given that these elections have been delayed for over two years, in November 2010 the ECB waived as a "special one-time measure" the requirement that a candidate should have been registered in a municipality for a minimum of one year in order to contest the elections. Although some have criticised this waiver as unconstitutional, the government has supported the ECB on the grounds that it will help encourage participation in the country's first-ever local government elections.