EC: Polling stations ready for early voting

Praphorn Praphornkul

 

 

BANGKOK, 14th March 2019 (NNT) - The Deputy Secretary-General of the Election Commission (EC), Metha Silaphan, said all central polling stations throughout Thailand are ready for early voting ahead of the general election, which will take place on March 24th, 2019.

 

Mr. Metha said the EC officials nationwide had inspected the readiness of the central polling stations in all electoral districts, as early voting will be held on March 17th.

 

The EC will not extend the time for voting at any polling stations, but eligible voters who enter the polling stations by 5 p.m. can still cast their votes.

 

He has stressed that voters are not allowed to use any tools or equipment to take pictures of the used ballot or they will face a penalty of one year imprisonment or a fine of 20,000 baht or both.

 

-- © Copyright nnt 2019-03-16

They've been collecting cardboard boxes from Tesco for weeks to construct extra booths.

Why can't you take a picture of your own used ballot? Is it to eliminate any evidence of how you voted?

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

EC: Polling stations ready for early voting

Will armed soldiers be on hand to distribute "How to Vote" cards at each of the polling booths?

1 hour ago, mikebell said:

They've been collecting cardboard boxes from Tesco for weeks to construct extra booths.

Surely they don't want foreign involvement in a Thai staged election.

Will the election process be overseen by any international groups? It has been mentioned previously that it was under consideration but I believe it depended on the decision of the EC to allow it or not.. Has a directive from EC been officially made public yet? 

Not allowed to take a picture of the ballot cast? Why does that sound fishy to me?

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The EC will not extend the time for voting at any polling stations

What are the EC plans if a polling station is not available for voting?

In the February 2014 election about 10% of voters were prevented from voting at certain official polling stations. When the EC subsequently planned after the official General Election date to better secure those polling stations for eligible voters, the Constitutional Court nullified the entire election.

20 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Surely they don't want foreign involvement in a Thai staged election.

Only Thai boxes will be used.  Anything with English writing on will be discarded on the grounds it might confuse the electorate into thinking they were voting in a real election.

On 3/16/2019 at 8:10 AM, nickstav said:

Why can't you take a picture of your own used ballot? Is it to eliminate any evidence of how you voted?

Because people who vote for a candidate they are paid to vote for use the photo as proof to collect their money.

5 minutes ago, kkerry said:

Because people who vote for a candidate they are paid to vote for use the photo as proof to collect their money.

Do the voting slips have a serial number on them?

If they don't, then couldn't one photo be shared around the same constituency for that particular candidate, in order to collect payment?

In the past payment was made before voting happened.

 

1 minute ago, bluesofa said:

Do the voting slips have a serial number on them?

If they don't, then couldn't one photo be shared around the same constituency for that particular candidate, in order to collect payment?

In the past payment was made before voting happened.

I believe it began to stop people claiming they voted for two or even three different candidates, so they could collect payments from different parties. It's what I was told when I saw people taking photos inside a riverbank open air polling station some years back.