Election Commission says advance ballots to be kept safe

Election Commission says advance ballots to be kept safe

Officials prepare to send a ballot box to the Thailand Post headquarters after a polling station at Matthayom Bang Kapi School in Bang Kapi district closed its doors on Sunday. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)
Officials prepare to send a ballot box to the Thailand Post headquarters after a polling station at Matthayom Bang Kapi School in Bang Kapi district closed its doors on Sunday. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)

The Election Commission (EC) has promised the advance ballots cast on Sunday in a prelude to the general election will be in safe hands.

EC deputy secretary-general Nat Laosisawakul said on Sunday that maximum security measures will be maintained as advance ballot papers are sent to the constituencies for officials to count, along with the ballots cast on March 24, the day of the general election.

The advance ballots will be sent to the Thailand Post headquarters in Bangkok to be sorted by postal staff on Monday afternoon under the watchful gaze of EC officials, Thailand Post managers and representatives of political parties.

After sorting, he said, the ballots will be sent to police stations in 350 constituencies within two days, where police officers and CCTVs will monitor the boxes around the clock.

The EC deputy secretary-general promised to expend all efforts to keep the ballots secure and free from tampering.

Citizens flocked to 395 polling stations assigned for advance voting on Sunday. All stations were to have officially closed at 5pm, but officials kept working until the last voter who registered by the deadline dropped the ballot in the box.

About 2.6 million people registered for advance voting, more than 900,000 of them in Bangkok, the EC said earlier.

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