Bangkok voters flocked to polling stations during Sunday’s general election, with turnout exceeding that of the last election in 2019.
More than 72% of eligible voters in Bangkok cast their ballots on Sunday, said City Clerk Khajit Chatchavanit as he inspected polling stations in constituencies 1, 2 and 3 in Phra Nakhon district after voting ended at 5pm.
Mr Khajit said unofficial results of the vote would be known at about 10pm after all 33 constituencies sent their results to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA)’s coordinating centre.
He thanked more than 100,000 BMA officials and staff for starting to perform their tasks at polling stations at 4am, and said everything had gone smoothly. He also thanked police for making it safe and convenient for people to exercise their right to vote.
The overall situation at Bangkok’s polling station was smooth, the City Clerk said. Out of 6,327 polling stations, only two polling stations in Huai Kwang and Min Buri districts had problems.
In Huai Kwang. there was an incident of a poll official tearing ballot papers. The case had been reported to Bangkok’s election committee and the Election Commission to decide.
In Min Buri, ballot papers were initially put in one ballot box, but were later put in two separate boxes for counting. If the number of ballot papers matched the number of voters, there would be no problem, said Mr Khajit.
Eligible voters who failed to cast their ballots with must give their reasons within May 21 by submitting letters with their ID numbers to district registrars, sending such letters by registered mail or explaining their reasons via the “Smart Vote’’ application or via the website.
If they failed to give reasons for not casting their ballots for the advance voting or for Sunday’s general election, they would lose certain priveleges such as the right to oppose the general election; the right to contest the general election, local-level or senate elections; and the right to run for sub-district chief, kamnan or phuyai ban (village chief).
Valid reasons for failing to vote include having to travel to remote areas, being unable to travel to polling stations due to sickness, disability or old age, being abroad, living more than 100km from their polling station or being assigned by a state agency to perform a task outside their constituency.