Figures Show PAD Failed To Win Support For 'No-Vote'

[webfact]

Figures show PAD failed to win support for 'no-vote'

By THE NATION

As well as all the votes cast on Sunday for MP candidates, who subsequently won or lost their respective contests, there was another choice: abstention, or the "Vote No" campaign by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

Even before the House of Representatives was dissolved, the PAD was calling for people to vote 'No', saying no politician was worth voting for. The group questioned the administrative ability of both Pheu Thai and the Democrat parties, and their capacity to 'protect' the country.

The PAD claimed abstaining was the best way to show disapproval of voters' existing choices. But there was more to the "No" vote than that: many people perceived the abstention mark on ballot cards as a voters' weapon, with which to oppose unqualified choices.

"No" voting was also backed by academics. Voters planning to use their right to abstain saw it as a private asset, their only means of "civil disobedience". The "No vote" box was also seen as a place to express approval of the PAD - the group that formed a political party but turned its back on the election.

Invalid votes and abstentions, therefore, assumed a different meaning to those in previous elections.

In the past, we saw 3 per cent of voters abstaining and 5 per cent invalid ballots for party-list MP balloting, and 5 per cent abstaining and 3 per cent invalid ballots for constituency MP voting.

For party-list voting, the figures from Sunday's election show little change. However, the percentage of invalid ballots for constituency MP voting has risen above the percentage of voters abstaining.

For party-list voting, the popularity of political parties was quite clear. The same group of voters still showed their opposition to the existing parties by abstaining. But in casting ballots for constituency MPs, voters who wanted to voice their dissatisfaction with the choices offered by political parties chose to express it by invalidating their ballot cards.

Some invalid cards were genuinely the result of voters' mistakes, such as voting for number 5 when the Rak Thailand Party did not offer any candidates as constituency MPs. But other voters intentionally either marked two boxes, made other marks, or even wrote their opinions on the ballot cards.

While his kind of invalidation has appeared in previous elections, the number of such invalidations was higher in Sunday's voting.

These voters did not want their expression of dissatisfaction to be claimed by any group of people; they simply wanted to show what they thought.

According to the Election Commission, invalid constituency MP ballot cards amounted to 10.01 per cent of votes in the 2001 election, 5.99 per cent in the 2005 election and 2.55 per cent in 2007.

For party-list MP votes, there were about 1.5 million invalid ballot cards, or 4.93 per cent, and more than 849,000 voters, or 2.73 per cent, marked their cards to abstain from voting.

The decline in invalid ballots is clear, as voters gained deeper understanding of the process and became more familiar with exercising their rights with two ballot cards.

However, in Sunday's election, invalid constituency-MP ballot cards reached almost 2 million, rising to 5.78 per cent of votes cast. Abstentions in this balloting category amounted to almost 1.4 million, or 4.05 per cent of votes cast.

While the percentage of abstentions and invalid votes suggests that the PAD failed in its attempt to claim support from voters, political parties and MP candidates cannot overlook the voters' expression of their will. The unusual increase in abstentions and invalid votes must be telling them something.

-- The Nation 2011-07-05

[SomTumTiger]

Seems that the PAD is a spent force - thankfully.

[cdnvic]

Conspiracy allegations removed. Unless you can substantiate these things, it's just stuff that you made up.

[Xangsamhua]

So 2.73% voted No for party list candidates and 4.5% voted No for constituency candidates. These figures translate to 849,000 + 1.4 million "No" votes - an average of 1,124,500 "No" votes.

Over a million people declaring their lack of confidence in all the candidates seems quite a large number to me, and if only 50% of them were PAD supporters rather than disgruntled for some other reason, that suggests that PAD has substantial support.

There are also many people who generally support the PAD position, but voted Democrat, New Politics, Rak Santi or similar parties because they did not agree with the PAD strategy on the "Vote No" strategy.

I think we'll see plenty more of the PAD in the next few years.

[Puccini]

I would prefer to see nothing of the PAD or the UDD or of fanatics or hooligans or terrorists of any denomination or colour.

[wiscoman]

I really hope this was the last throws of the PAD and they stay away. Thailand will be a much better and prosperous without them around.

[MengWan]

So 2.73% voted No for party list candidates and 4.5% voted No for constituency candidates. These figures translate to 849,000 + 1.4 million "No" votes - an average of 1,124,500 "No" votes.

Over a million people declaring their lack of confidence in all the candidates seems quite a large number to me, and if only 50% of them were PAD supporters rather than disgruntled for some other reason, that suggests that PAD has substantial support.

There are also many people who generally support the PAD position, but voted Democrat, New Politics, Rak Santi or similar parties because they did not agree with the PAD strategy on the "Vote No" strategy.

I think we'll see plenty more of the PAD in the next few years.

I agree, in fact they succeeded in helping a PT victory ...

With the Democrats in power, they were irrelevant, with Thaksin they can become a force to recon with, not by their strength alone, but by the "anti-Thaksin" they can rally !

[Thailand]

Seems that the PAD is a spent force - thankfully.

Down and out and no doubt those key figures in the airport fiasco will be brought to justice including senior ministers in the ex government will now be running scared!