Bangkok has the highest number of people registered for advance voting in the May 14 general election, with more than 800,000 of the 2.35 million voters nationwide who intend to cast their ballots a week early.
There are 74 polling stations in the capital, with the largest number of people planning to vote on May 7 registered at Ramkhamhaeng University (about 52,000), Royal Paragon Hall (40,000) and Huai Kwang district office (28,000) polling stations, according to the Election Commission.
Other polling stations with a high number of people registered to vote early were Bang Khen district office (26,000), the Thai-Japanese Stadium (25,300), Lat Krabang district office (25,200), Bang Na district office (24,000), the car park at Central Rama 2 shopping mall (23,000), the car park at Wat That Thong (22,800) and Chandra Rajabhat University (22,200).
A total of 2,350,969 people nationwide signed up during early-voting registration from March 25 to April 9. Advance voting is on May 7, one week before the general election on May 14.
Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, chairman of Seri Ruam Thai’s policy steering committee and former election commissioner, has asked the EC to make more information public about and for people exercising their voting rights abroad, in the interests of transparency.
Mr Somchai posted on his Facebook account on Wednesday that there were many abnormalities regarding the management of voting outside the country such as the scrapping of postal voting, which was the best and most convenient method for voters, delays in sending ballot papers, and photos of candidates of two parties not matching their drawn ballot numbers in Bangkok’s constituency 11.
There was also confusion in the delivery of documents. For example, some people eligible to vote in Amnat Charoen’s constituency 2 also received documents to vote in Nonthaburi’s constituency 4.
The Seri Ruam Thai Party wanted voting abroad to be fully transparent. The party wanted the EC and the Foreign Affairs Ministry to disclose the number of voters outside the country, in detail.