Unofficial Poll Result Will Be Known After 9pm:EC

[Lite Beer]

Unofficial poll result will be known after 9pm: EC

BANGKOK, July 2 - Election Commissioner Prapun Naigowit expressed satisfaction over the preparation of the general election on Sunday and expected that the unofficial result of the poll could come out after 9pm.

Mr Prapun who is in charge of election administration had inspected the polling stations at Chatuchak district where the officials were preparing ballots and boxes for the general election on Sunday.

He said overall preparation was completed and no problems reported from Election Commission (EC) provincial directors.

As for the northern province of Nan, which was hit by flood, he believed there would be no significant impact on the election.

Mr Prapun said he was worried about the weather as he feared that there would be rain on Sunday, so he would like to encourage eligible voters to come early to exercise their rights and duties.

He expected that the unofficial poll results could be known after 9pm and a clearer picture could be seen as to which parties could form the government.

The Election Commissioner said he was confident that there would be no problems at crowded polling stations as with advance voting last Sunday, as there is a total of 90,854 polling stations nationwide and 1.2 million officials were manning the polling stations to facilitate voting.

He stressed that after 6pm today, the sale of alcoholic beverages would be banned until midnight of July 3 and political campaign activities would also be prohibited during the period.

Meanwhile, Mongkon Kamprao, Si Sa Ket provincial Election Commissioner, on Saturday said that the ballot box distribution to 2,704 polling stations in the province has run smoothly.

Regarding a situation along the Thai-Cambodian border in Kantharalak district, Mr Mongkon added that if a border incident occurred during voting, officials stationed at polling stations will have to suspend the process and relocate the polling stations into safe zones.

If the clash takes place while officials are counting votes at the local polling stations, the vote counting process will be halted. In this event, election officials will close and lock the ballot boxes, in line with EC regulations, before handing in the boxes to election commissioners stationed at the affected polling stations, according to Mr Mongkon.

In another border province of Buri Ram, Thawee Chunkor, director of Buri Ram provincial Election Commission, said eight polling stations in Ban Kruat district will be at risk if the clashes along the border occurs.

According to reports and coordination with related-security agencies, the situation along the border in Buri Ram remains normal, Mr Thawee added.

If a row takes place and disrupts voting at the eight polling stations, authorities may consider postponing the voting in those stations.

Meanwhile, National Police chief Pol Gen Wichean Potephosree said 180,000 police would be deployed nationwide to ensure safety on election day Sunday.

He said police who had given security at each polling station have to report on the overall situation from the transport of poll boxes from the district office to the polling stations. They would also report the unofficial result of the vote count to the National Police Bureau which would forward the result to the EC.

Gen Wichean said 42 police officers have been accused of biased conduct and they were transferred to posts that were not involved with the election. They were also put under investigation and would be punished if they were found guilty of such practices, as the police had a duty to be impartial during an election. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-07-02

[londonthai]

" police ... They would also report the unofficial result of the vote count to the National Police Bureau which would forward the result to the EC."

police reporting election results to the EC?

description of the police job is security and not replacing governmental structures set up to do so.

one can suspect, that police might, and will, to send false figures, depending on their political leanings and by that influencing political process just after the election.

[animatic]

" police ... They would also report the unofficial result of the vote count to the National Police Bureau which would forward the result to the EC."

police reporting election results to the EC?

description of the police job is security and not replacing governmental structures set up to do so.

one can suspect, that police might, and will, to send false figures, depending on their political leanings and by that influencing political process just after the election.

Seems logical, for Thailand.

[rubl]

I have a voting station, place, whatever it's called, outside my apartment block. With election laws as they are am I allowing to put a chair on the sidewalk, sit wearing a whatever color shirt with the number '666' and drink from a coffeecup ?

I may report here on what I see, but maybe I should restrain myself till AFTER closing time

[noahvail]

Not allowed to wear clothing with any numbers on it, close to the polling stations. Not even a sports jersey.

But I think you already knew that