Early voters turn out in force

General News - Sunday December 16, 2007

RACE TO PARLIAMENT

Early voters turn out in force

Nearly one million people cast their ballots in first day of advance voting, govt says high turnout bodes well for Dec 23

By Post reporters

Almost a million voters turned out across the country yesterday to cast advance votes for the general election, defying earlier speculation of public apathy towards the long-awaited polls.

Yesterday's voting marked a symbolic return to democracy following the military coup in Sept 19 last year which toppled then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his elected government.

Analysts have said that yesterday's high turnout can be seen as representative of the mood around the country towards the election and that it shows that the general public is anxious to get the country back on the democratic track.

A total of 893,659 people turned out for the first of two days of advance voting yesterday - 43% of the 2.09 million people who registered to cast advance ballots outside the constituencies where they have house registrations. Advance voting ends at 5pm today.

A total of 415,803 people from other provinces who registered for advance voting cast their ballots in Bangkok yesterday. Another 94,536 voters registered in the capital also took the opportunity to get in their votes early.

However, a number of polling stations across the country were caught off-guard by the higher-than-expected voter turnout, with many places struggling to cope with the streams of people turning up to cast their votes. Additional ballot sheets also had to be brought in to meet the overwhelming demands of voters.

Voters in the strife-torn three southern provinces also came out in numbers to cast their ballots at polling stations despite fears of insurgent attacks.

Deputy Prime Minister Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, who heads a government committee working to stamp out poll fraud, joined the advance voters, ticking his ballot sheets at a polling station in Bangkok's Dusit district.

He said the high turnout for the advance voting should encourage more people to vote in the Dec 23 election. The government has said it hopes for at least a 70% overall voter turnout.

At polling stations in military areas, uniformed soldiers also kept their appointments for advance voting. Many registered to vote yesterday as they are scheduled to be on security duty at election units during next Sunday's polls.

An army source denied allegations that military commanders had instructed their subordinates who to vote for.

In Samut Prakan, more than 30,000 people flocked to vote at a polling station in the compound of the Royal Naval Academy. Parking space was limited, forcing voters to park their cars along nearby roads, paralysing traffic.

In Ayutthaya, home to a lot of industrial factories, more than 50,000 people registered for advance voting. Most of them were workers from the Northeast. Lots of buses were needed to transport them to the polling venue, causing traffic congestion.

Election Commissioner Praphan Naikowit said the advance voting went relatively smoothly with no irregularities detected in the transportation of voters to polling booths.

He said problems regarding the disappearance of voter names from the lists of registered advance voters would be corrected today.

Mr Praphan also cast his ballot yesterday at Chatuchak district, where over 20,000 people had their names down for the advance voting.

He said EC officials had already been sent to investigate the burning of some 2,500 ballot papers in Roi Et. An initial investigation found local officials were careless in bringing ballot papers used for advance voting to burn along with ballot papers used for the Aug 19 public referendum on the new constitution.

He also shrugged off rumours that certain groups wanted to sabotage the election, saying the polls would go ahead as planned next Sunday.

"People were active in casting their ballots. They went to the polling booths early this morning. I assure you that the Dec 23 polls will not be postponed," the commissioner said.

Bangkok Post