Pnet: EC disenfranchised 500,000

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Pnet: EC disenfranchised 500,000

Published: 28/06/2011 at 04:15 PM
Online news: Local News

As many as 500,000 eligible voters have lost their right to vote because of a misunderstanding and the Election Commission's poor public relations, the People's Network for Election in Thailand said on Tuesday.

Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, a Pnet committee member, said they were those who registered to vote in advance outside their constituencies in the last election but had not withdrawn their names from the list of advance voters, not knowing that they were required to do so by an EC regulation.

They wrongly believed that their names would be automatically put back in the lists of eligible voters in their home constituencies after the 2007 election and did not go for the advance voting on June 26.

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bencanuck
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Discussion 6 : 29/06/2011 at 09:49 AM6
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I might easily have made the same assumption as these 500,000 voters. Seems like a fairly natural assumption. I think the EC should admit that it should work to make this clearer.
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ricefield
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Discussion 5 : 29/06/2011 at 04:53 AM5
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Disc 4 - If you miss the vote on election day, you can not vote at a later date in that election. You also have to inform the EC why you could not vote within 60 days of the election to keep your voting rights.
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johninbkk
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Discussion 4 : 28/06/2011 at 08:59 PM4
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Section 72 of the 2007 Constitution, Duties of the Thai People, states "Every person shall have a duty to exercise his right to vote at an election. The person who exercises his right to vote at an election or fails to attend an election for voting without notifying the reasonable cause of such failure shall be entitled to or lose the right as provided by law."

The constitution does not say the notification can't be done after the fact, so by law, voters can be allowed to vote if the State decides they have 'reasonable cause'.
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general
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Discussion 3 : 28/06/2011 at 06:11 PM3
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Really? This is Thailand!
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abbub
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Discussion 2 : 28/06/2011 at 05:36 PM2
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That's right Ivy, as my father used to say "rules are made to be followed, not questioned". 25 years in the USAF... He often questions his having chosen to stay so long in the military.
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ivyking
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Discussion 1 : 28/06/2011 at 04:58 PM1
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Sorry, rules are rules.
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Pnet: EC disenfranchised 500,000 | Bangkok Post: news