EC relocates poll sites due to floods

General News - Sunday December 23, 2007

RACE TO PARLIAMENT

EC relocates poll sites due to floods

Officials confident of high voter turnout

By Post reporters

Thousands of people in this southern province will have to wade through floodwaters or travel by boat to cast their ballots today as officials have relocated 46 flooded polling stations in three districts to nearby highways. Many sections of the region's inter-provincial roads have been converted into makeshift polling stations as flood levels remain high in many areas in Pattani, especially in Nong Chik, Yarang, and Muang districts. Muang district has been hardest hit, said Pattani election commission chairman Wirawat La-eard.

Officials have tried to set up the new polling stations close to the old ones.

''If they are too far, villagers would not turn out. Flooding alone is bad enough to keep them home,'' said Mr Wirawat.

His office has been asked to provide boats to transport voters in severely flooded villages. People in Muang district could not wade through waist-deep waters to go and vote, he said.

Run-off from floodwaters in neighbouring Yala and Narathiwat, especially through the 180km Sai Buri river, has been streaming into Pattani.

Many villagers have relocated to highways, especially the one linking Pattani and Narathiwat. The roads have become a camping ground for flood victims taking refuge on its traffic island. They are struggling to resume normality by feeding cattle on the roads and selling food in makeshift stalls.

In Narathiwat, officials have also relocated polling stations in five districts, including Sukhirin, which is flooded by run-off from San Kara Khiri mountain.

The new polling stations there are also close to the old ones, officials said.

Yesterday, ballot boxes were transported to more than 1,000 polling stations across the violence-plagued region amid tight security. Some are being kept at the houses of election officials due to flooding.

Police and soldiers remain on alert for insurgent attacks, which have shown no signs of abating during the flooding.

Narathiwat Election Commission chairman Chote Chuachomket said he would boost the number of security officers at balloting venues in areas prone to attacks.

In Yala, flooding has also forced a change of polling stations in many districts, including Bannang Sata.

The last day of election campaigning in the province was not vigorous as election candidates remained afraid of insurgent attacks, according to observers.

However, Yala Election Commission chairman Detrat Simsiri said he expected a high turnout today if the rain held off enough to allow people to go and vote.

Bangkok Post