More than 48,000 people nationwide have registered to compete in the Senate race to fill 200 seats, the Election Commission said on Saturday.
The final total of 48,226 from the five-day registration period that ended on Friday was less than half the number the poll body had been hoping to see.
According to the Department of Provincial Administration, 48,117 applicants met all qualifications. Those who did not will have their applications thoroughly reviewed by Wednesday, it said.
A review of the applicant list showed that many districts lacked contenders from all 20 of the approved professional groups to become senators.
Seven districts had applicants from just one group while two districts had no applicants at all.
The first round of voting, in which only approved candidates can take part, will take place at the district level. Given that there are more than 900 districts nationwide — and 900x20 equals 18,000 — there are likely to be a lot of non-competitive races in some of the 20 groups in many districts.
However, Sawaeng Boonmee, the secretary-general of the Election Commission, isn’t worried.
The spotty distribution of candidates is not an issue, he said, as Sections 19 and 40 of the Organic Act on the Acquisition of Senators allow for the selection of district-level candidates despite a lack of candidates from all professional groups.
“The number of applicants may be lower than expected due to the high qualifications and the complexity of the system to prevent irregularities in senatorial registration, which may have discouraged people from applying,” said Mr Sawaeng.
“The existing number of applicants will enable management and control of the process.”
The district elections will take place on June 9, with winners going on to provincial elections on June 16, followed by a final nationwide vote on June 26. The 200 winners are expected to be announced on July 2.
A list of Senate candidates is available via the Smart Vote mobile app, Mr Sawaeng said.
People can also report irregularities via the app. Informants may be asked to be recorded to ensure fairness, he said.
The Open Forum for Democracy Foundation said the low number of applicants could be attributed to limited information dissemination, lack of support from the Election Commission in highlighting the importance of the Senate, and the high 2,500-baht registration fee.
Misunderstandings among officials that led to unnecessary document requests were also a problem, it said.
Many prospective candidates were also put off by the confusing and seemingly restrictive rules set out by the EC.
On Friday, the Central Administrative Court ordered the commission to scrap three of the most contentious rules, but it is not known if the poll body plans to appeal. The rules were:
- Regulation No.7 allows candidates to introduce themselves using no more than two sheets of A4 paper to sum up their resumes.
- Regulation No.8 allows candidates to introduce themselves via an electronic method, but online introductions are restricted to the information contained within the two A4 pages. Self-introduction via TV, radio and print media is prohibited.
- Regulation No.11 (2) prohibits candidates and their registered assistants who work in the media and entertainment industries from using their professions to aid their self-introduction campaigns.