'No vote' option versus 'no show' this Sunday: February 2 election

[webfact]

FEBRUARY 2 ELECTION
'No vote' option versus 'no show' this Sunday
Jintana Panyaarvudh
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Though February 2 is just round the corner, the current atmosphere certainly does not look like the country is heading for national elections.

For starters, not many candidates' banners are visible along the streets in Bangkok and other cities. Also, some candidates are still strangers, as they hail from small parties.

So far, only one major party - Pheu Thai - appears to be running in the race, as the other main party, that of the Democrats, has boycotted the election. Besides, the candidates themselves believe the election might eventually be nullified because of the ongoing turmoil.

And voters, especially those against the government, are also feeling very lost about how they should cast their vote or even if they should bother showing up at the polling booth. Many have been discussing which way they should go on Sunday - should they cast a "no vote", stay home or join the rally?

The "no vote" option is a clear indicator that a voter has exercised his or her right by showing up at the polling booth, but is declaring "I vote for nobody".

Although this option would not affect the election results on the party-list system, it is very significant for the 22 constituencies in the South that have only one candidate each. As per the Constitution, if a constituency has only one candidate, then he or she must win at least 20 per cent of the eligible votes and these votes need to outnumber the "no votes" cast.

If these candidates fail to pass the requirements, new elections will have to be held and the candidate can only be endorsed as an MP after a third re-election.

In addition, if the "no vote" count is higher than a winning candidate's number of votes in constituencies that have more than one candidate, it will serve as nothing more than a big embarrassment.

"If the number of 'no votes' is higher than all the votes contesting parties have won in the party-list system, then people will only gossip that the 'no-vote party' is more popular than an actual political party," Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn jokingly said in a Facebook post yesterday.

The other option most talked about is "no show", which is the goal of the anti-government protest. Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban is urging voters to boycott the election and join his rally on Sunday instead.

Some analysts who favour the "no show" option have said abstention is far more significant than choosing "no vote".

If more than 50 per cent of the 48 million eligible voters abstain, then the winner - who in this case is likely to be the Pheu Thai Party - is bound to lose its legitimacy completely, even though this party insists on claiming victory, some analysts say.

Though a high number of abstentions would mean a low voter turnout, it would have no legal effect to nullify the election, Somchai said.

"If the voter turnout this time is very low [because of abstention] it would only embarrass Thailand in the view of the international community," he said.

However, the number of abstentions would not provide a clear implication that voters are enthusiastic to show their objection, because these "no shows" could include those who have woken up late and failed to cast their ballot, he said.

Meanwhile, analysts favouring the "no vote" option say the protesters cannot claim a victory by using the number of abstention votes, because their plan is to block people from exercising their right to vote.

A more legitimate victory would be to prove that voters have abstained out of free choice and not because they cannot enter the polling station or have chosen to stay home out of security concerns, these analysts say.

"People can refuse to vote for personal satisfaction, but that would be a waste. This abstention can also be interpreted as 'ignorant voter' and your vote could be stolen," prominent legal expert Meechai Ruchuphan said in an article titled "Should we go to vote?"

Meechai, who is also a member of a Council of State panel, called on opponents of this government to exercise their voting rights and cast a "no vote", as it would prove exactly how many people are against the government.

"If the number of people who opt for 'no vote' is more than the votes cast for actual candidates, then they cannot claim that the majority have voted them in," he noted.

While the ruling Pheu Thai Party is planning to claim victory by using a majority vote result after Sunday, the anti-government protesters are hoping for a larger "no vote" and "no-show" counts to claim victory.

However, in the end, it's all just a game of numbers.


-- The Nation 2014-01-31

[EricBerg]

Don't bother, the election is a joke. An expensive one, but it costs less than the rice scam, so the caretakers did make some progress after all.

[96tehtarp]

"While the ruling Pheu Thai Party is planning to claim victory by using a majority vote result after Sunday, the anti-government protesters are hoping for a larger "no vote" and "no-show" counts to claim victory."

The opposition is not hoping for a larger "no-vote", they are actively trying to prevent anyone from voting at all. I thought that was pretty clear.

Question; for the TV legal experts. What would happen in a constituency where 70% of votes cast were "no-vote" and 30% went to the PTP candidate?

[canuckamuck]

i haven't received my 500 baht yet, this election is a joke.

[whybother]

"While the ruling Pheu Thai Party is planning to claim victory by using a majority vote result after Sunday, the anti-government protesters are hoping for a larger "no vote" and "no-show" counts to claim victory."

The opposition is not hoping for a larger "no-vote", they are actively trying to prevent anyone from voting at all. I thought that was pretty clear.

Question; for the TV legal experts. What would happen in a constituency where 70% of votes cast were "no-vote" and 30% went to the PTP candidate?

In a constituency with only one candidate, they need to get more than 20% of the eligible votes and more votes than the "no-votes", and in a constituency with more than one candidate they would win.

Sent from my phone ...

[ABCer]

Any Election in any 'Democratic' country is a bit of a scam.

Pity that Thailand must have such a Big Turmoil with this bit of a scam.

This has not much to do with who is sitting at the Parliament, - Thaksin, Yingluck, Abhisit, Suthep etc.

Thais know what they do not want. But they have no idea of what they want.

Beautiful country, not bad people, and all is going full steam towards catastrophe.

Everybody wants to advance but nobody knows directions.

[pookiki]

Elections are scheduled for Sunday. All Thais should exercise their democratic right to vote to show their position on the current political situation in Thailand. Abhisit said he is going to vote. PDRC leader Issara Somchai said he is going to vote. Why shouldn't all Thais follow their example?

[noitom]

And this no vote option would be the Thai "option" three or four? The trafficking into labor camps of Rohingya was the Thai option two. So is this no vote the Thai "option three" or was their another Thai option preceding it, therefore making the no vote option the Thai "option four."

[Suriya4]

i haven't received my 500 baht yet, this election is a joke.

Sorry, no money form no vote.

[Jasun]

Isn't it true that failing to vote disqualifies you from running in the subsequent election? I seem to remember Paradorn not running in Bangkok last time around for this very reason. I'd guess that's why people like Abhisit have already come out and said they'll be voting. And why PT will be hoping people choose not to vote vs a 'no vote', particularly its political foes.

[tx22cb]

Elections are scheduled for Sunday. All Thais should exercise their democratic right to vote to show their position on the current political situation in Thailand. Abhisit said he is going to vote. PDRC leader Issara Somchai said he is going to vote. Why shouldn't all Thais follow their example?

To be fair, although it is embarrassing for these 2 to have been caught out, I'd assume that many more will also vote

a ) most of the Dems party leaders (including aspiring MPs and Senators) will vote (can't become a MP nor a Senator if you didn't vote)

b ) many of the PDRC leaders (apart from Suthep) will also vote - they also want to be MPs or Senators

I hear "social media" is encouraging Thais to snap pictures of "important" Dems/PDRC people when they go to vote, and post the photos online

[englishoak]

The Hippocratic party leaders and MPs will vote, they will tell thier electorate either not to vote or spoil their ballots ... more of a dont do as i do, but do as I say strategy ...

[whybother]

The Hippocratic party leaders and MPs will vote, they will tell thier electorate either not to vote or spoil their ballots ... more of a dont do as i do, but do as I say strategy ...

Actually, they've said it's their decision.

"Abhisit allows Democrat members free decision on voting"

[rickirs]

This election will be one where a "no vote" will become a "no meaningful vote." And the majority of Thai people voting will get their representative government. And the Democrats will cry foul for not putting themselves on the ballot, disparaging the lack of any representation in government. If you want to play by the rules of insurrection instead of democracy, you can expect unfavorbale consequences if you don't win.

[tingtongteesood]

20% is far from a majority, surely this should be raised to at least 51% ?

[whybother]

20% is far from a majority, surely this should be raised to at least 51% ?

That's 20% of eligible or registered voters, not actual votes. They still need to get more than the "No Votes" as well, so theoretically (excluding invalid votes), that would give them a majority of the votes.

In multi- candidate constituencies, a candidate could win with much less than 20% if the votes happened to be spread evenly across candidates. (11 candidates, 10 with 9% of the vote each, 1 with 10%, the one with 10% wins.)

[casualbiker]

The Hippocratic party leaders and MPs will vote, they will tell thier electorate either not to vote or spoil their ballots ... more of a dont do as i do, but do as I say strategy ...

They could still do a "no" vote

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[BlueNoseCodger]

Elections are scheduled for Sunday. All Thais should exercise their democratic right to vote to show their position on the current political situation in Thailand. Abhisit said he is going to vote. PDRC leader Issara Somchai said he is going to vote. Why shouldn't all Thais follow their example?

If they don't vote now, the elite won't ever let them vote freely. Reform by an elite never favors everyone, it always just favors the elite.

Right now you might prefer some members of the Democrat party, e.g. Abhisit over Suthep, Korn over Abhisit. But you'll never get to choose, Suthep will. You won't even get the chance to reject Suthep's chosen few. Because he'll write them into the Constitution and you'll be force to re-elect them, North Korea style.

So don't let them take your vote from you.

Edited January 31, 2014 by BlueNoseCodger

[wellwell]

My entire Thai extended family in the northeast are voting NO, with the exception of my wife's aunt who is ridiculously rich and will be voting PTP on the basis that without the PTP she could not continue to make all this corruption money in the first place and all her police and politician friends would not be able to make the money also (her words exactly).

Edited January 31, 2014 by wellwell

[DrTuner]

Seems there isn't much talk about votes being bought this time. I bet the percentage of votes given will be lowest ever, why bother if there's no $$.

[BlueNoseCodger]

My entire Thai extended family in the northeast are voting NO, with the exception of my wife's aunt who is ridiculously rich and will be voting PTP on the basis that without the PTP she could not continue to make all this corruption money in the first place and all her police and politician friends would not be able to make the money also (her words exactly).

Obvious trolling aside, it's good that they vote.

[falangadang]

Stay at home,.. avoid the violence, avoid the charade,.. and most of all DON'T encourage them,... it just makes things worse!

[pipkins]

Elections are scheduled for Sunday. All Thais should exercise their democratic right to vote to show their position on the current political situation in Thailand. Abhisit said he is going to vote. PDRC leader Issara Somchai said he is going to vote. Why shouldn't all Thais follow their example?

To be fair, although it is embarrassing for these 2 to have been caught out, I'd assume that many more will also vote

a ) most of the Dems party leaders (including aspiring MPs and Senators) will vote (can't become a MP nor a Senator if you didn't vote)

b ) many of the PDRC leaders (apart from Suthep) will also vote - they also want to be MPs or Senators

I hear "social media" is encouraging Thais to snap pictures of "important" Dems/PDRC people when they go to vote, and post the photos online

They are indeed and there is a leak from the Dems side that they have a PR team in place to find ways to vote withough being videod.

Also, incredibly, this same team is working on ways to block polling stations without being videod.

Think everybody in thailand has at least one camera now so many are going to be either hypocrits or banned. Lets hope this is the end of the road for many Dems

[whybother]

Elections are scheduled for Sunday. All Thais should exercise their democratic right to vote to show their position on the current political situation in Thailand. Abhisit said he is going to vote. PDRC leader Issara Somchai said he is going to vote. Why shouldn't all Thais follow their example?

If they don't vote now, the elite won't ever let them vote freely. Reform by an elite never favors everyone, it always just favors the elite.

Right now you might prefer some members of the Democrat party, e.g. Abhisit over Suthep, Korn over Abhisit. But you'll never get to choose, Suthep will. You won't even get the chance to reject Suthep's chosen few. Because he'll write them into the Constitution and you'll be force to re-elect them, North Korea style.

So don't let them take your vote from you.

You do a lot of reading of the UFO sites too don't you.

[BlueNoseCodger]

Elections are scheduled for Sunday. All Thais should exercise their democratic right to vote to show their position on the current political situation in Thailand. Abhisit said he is going to vote. PDRC leader Issara Somchai said he is going to vote. Why shouldn't all Thais follow their example?

If they don't vote now, the elite won't ever let them vote freely. Reform by an elite never favors everyone, it always just favors the elite.

Right now you might prefer some members of the Democrat party, e.g. Abhisit over Suthep, Korn over Abhisit. But you'll never get to choose, Suthep will. You won't even get the chance to reject Suthep's chosen few. Because he'll write them into the Constitution and you'll be force to re-elect them, North Korea style.

So don't let them take your vote from you.

You do a lot of reading of the UFO sites too don't you.

Before 2006 you could vote in the whole Senate, after 2006 you can only vote in half the Senate. Not SciFi Channel, but History Channel. History teaches us, that elites remove the choice of the majority because they don't represent the majority, they represent their own elites.

Whether it's 3 votes for elite, to 1 for farmer, which has already been suggested by PDRC leaders, or removing bodies from elections completely or partially. It's always about keeping power and removing it from the people.

[whybother]

Elections are scheduled for Sunday. All Thais should exercise their democratic right to vote to show their position on the current political situation in Thailand. Abhisit said he is going to vote. PDRC leader Issara Somchai said he is going to vote. Why shouldn't all Thais follow their example?

If they don't vote now, the elite won't ever let them vote freely. Reform by an elite never favors everyone, it always just favors the elite.

Right now you might prefer some members of the Democrat party, e.g. Abhisit over Suthep, Korn over Abhisit. But you'll never get to choose, Suthep will. You won't even get the chance to reject Suthep's chosen few. Because he'll write them into the Constitution and you'll be force to re-elect them, North Korea style.

So don't let them take your vote from you.

You do a lot of reading of the UFO sites too don't you.

Before 2006 you could vote in the whole Senate, after 2006 you can only vote in half the Senate. Not SciFi Channel, but History Channel. History teaches us, that elites remove the choice of the majority because they don't represent the majority, they represent their own elites.

Whether it's 3 votes for elite, to 1 for farmer, which has already been suggested by PDRC leaders, or removing bodies from elections completely or partially. It's always about keeping power and removing it from the people.

When have the PDRC leaders suggested anything like "3 votes for elite, to 1 for farmer,"??

If you look at history, you can see that "the elite" gave the people elections. Of course, you can pick and choose which pieces of history to use to fit your conspiracy theory.

[BlueNoseCodger]

Before 2006 you could vote in the whole Senate, after 2006 you can only vote in half the Senate. Not SciFi Channel, but History Channel. History teaches us, that elites remove the choice of the majority because they don't represent the majority, they represent their own elites.

Whether it's 3 votes for elite, to 1 for farmer, which has already been suggested by PDRC leaders, or removing bodies from elections completely or partially. It's always about keeping power and removing it from the people.

When have the PDRC leaders suggested anything like "3 votes for elite, to 1 for farmer,"??

If you look at history, you can see that "the elite" gave the people elections. Of course, you can pick and choose which pieces of history to use to fit your conspiracy theory.

...and the new elites are taking it back from the democracy!

3 vote to 1, is this guys speeches from the cars.

His words on this occassion are "300000 voices in Bangkok, are better than 15 million votes in the province."

i.e. 50:1

If you speak Thai this is a good video explaining the current situation.

Can someone help the guy with an English translation. This video neatly sums up the current situation in Thailand with the appointees blocking funding for rail, rice, and many other projects.

Edited January 31, 2014 by BlueNoseCodger

[casualbiker]

Elections are scheduled for Sunday. All Thais should exercise their democratic right to vote to show their position on the current political situation in Thailand. Abhisit said he is going to vote. PDRC leader Issara Somchai said he is going to vote. Why shouldn't all Thais follow their example?

If they don't vote now, the elite won't ever let them vote freely. Reform by an elite never favors everyone, it always just favors the elite.

Right now you might prefer some members of the Democrat party, e.g. Abhisit over Suthep, Korn over Abhisit. But you'll never get to choose, Suthep will. You won't even get the chance to reject Suthep's chosen few. Because he'll write them into the Constitution and you'll be force to re-elect them, North Korea style.

So don't let them take your vote from you.

Off course this is absolute fact! NO

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[casualbiker]

Elections are scheduled for Sunday. All Thais should exercise their democratic right to vote to show their position on the current political situation in Thailand. Abhisit said he is going to vote. PDRC leader Issara Somchai said he is going to vote. Why shouldn't all Thais follow their example?

To be fair, although it is embarrassing for these 2 to have been caught out, I'd assume that many more will also vote

a ) most of the Dems party leaders (including aspiring MPs and Senators) will vote (can't become a MP nor a Senator if you didn't vote)

b ) many of the PDRC leaders (apart from Suthep) will also vote - they also want to be MPs or Senators

I hear "social media" is encouraging Thais to snap pictures of "important" Dems/PDRC people when they go to vote, and post the photos online

They are indeed and there is a leak from the Dems side that they have a PR team in place to find ways to vote withough being videod.

Also, incredibly, this same team is working on ways to block polling stations without being videod.

Think everybody in thailand has at least one camera now so many are going to be either hypocrits or banned. Lets hope this is the end of the road for many Dems

Again a link would be nice. Otherwise just hearsay and hyperbole!

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Bluespunk]

Elections are scheduled for Sunday. All Thais should exercise their democratic right to vote to show their position on the current political situation in Thailand. Abhisit said he is going to vote. PDRC leader Issara Somchai said he is going to vote. Why shouldn't all Thais follow their example?

Is that not because, if you don't vote you can't hold political office? Or am I mistaken in that?