Civic education provides information about concepts pertaining to a democratic society such as the respective roles and responsibilities of the citizens, the government, media and other stakeholders. On the other hand, voter education focuses more on informing citizens regarding voting and electoral processes, and also provides information about the date, time, place of voting as well as the type of election.
Educating the citizens of the concepts and democracy and of their rights as voters is an essential part for the success of a democratic society, where citizens can fully take part in all the democratic processes. Voter education programmes have therefore been established by countries to educate its electorate, with Bhutan being one of those countries.
A new civic and voter education strategy for the Election Commission was developed in 2015 by election officials and representatives from civil society organizations, which is also a preparation for the upcoming local government elections. Discussions during the workshop among participants are expected to help the election commission develop better voter education strategy. The workshop was supported by International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance).