Thailand General Election: 2.15 Million Register For Early Voting

BANGKOK, April 10 (Bernama) -- About 2.15 million Thai voters have registered to cast their ballots a week before the May 14 General Election.

Election Commission (EC) Secretary-General Sawaeng Boonmee said a total of 2,153,450 voters have registered for early voting since the registration started on Mac 25 and ended on Sunday. 

“There are a total of 2,042,381 voters in Thailand registered to cast their vote on May 7. Another 111,069 Thais living abroad have registered with EC for early voting too,” he said.

He added the number of early voters could be higher as there are number of registrations by mail which has yet to arrive at the EC’s office.

Meanwhile, Sawaeng said the EC’s registration website and application experienced disruption on Sunday, starting 8 pm to 11.45 pm (local time) following last-minute rush for registration.

To ensure the registration for overseas voting is accessible to all Thais living abroad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been closely coordinating with the Ministry of Interior which is responsible for the online overseas voting registration system.

Voters abroad will be casting their vote at the embassies or consulates general or by post, as determined by the Thai embassy/ consulate general in the respective country, according to the local context of each country. The votes will be counted in Thailand.

About 52 million eligible voters will elect 400 constituency candidates and another 100 party-list candidates decided through proportional representation.

-- BERNAMA