The unofficial result of the Aug 7 referendum on the draft constitution should be known by 8pm that day, election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said on Friday.
The Election Commission (EC) is planning to use application software to compile and display vote totals from locations around the country. The unofficial result should be clear within four hours after balloting ends at 4pm, he said.
By that time, the EC expects that all but about 1 million votes will have been reported. If the difference between acceptance and rejection is more than 1 million votes, the unofficial result would be considered reliable.
However, if the margin is only five or six digits, people must wait for the official count that will be announced three days afterward, as the unofficial result might be uncertain, Mr Somchai said.
He admitted that people still had poor understanding about the content of the draft charter. He said that voters should at least understand its main content before going to vote.
Voter turnout in the last referendum in 2007 was 57%, and the military-drafted charter was approved by 57.8% of those casting ballots. If the Aug 7 turnout is lower than 57%, the EC would consider itself to have done a poor job promoting the vote, Mr Somchai said.
Earlier, EC officials had said they expected up to 80% of people to vote on Aug 7. However, many people still have low awareness of what they are being asked to vote on because campaigning has been severely restricted.
There are 50.6 million people eligible to vote in the referendum, compared with 45.1 million in 2007.
Meanwhile, election commissioner Pravich Rattanapian warned that voters could not use their smartphones to take selfie photos within polling stations because it was against the law.
Taking photos of a filled ballot is also illegal with violators facing punishment of up to five years in jail and/or a fine from 20,000 to 100,000 baht.
Photographing ballots with mobile phones has been widespread in recent general elections, as the pictures offered proof to politicians who bought votes that their money was properly spent.
