Survey finds most disagree with new electoral system
Most people disagree with the abolition of a voting system in which all candidates of the same party share a common contesting number, saying it would only cause confusion and be unlikely to curb electoral fraud as intended, an opinion survey has found.
More than 40 per cent of 1,119 respondents answered to the latest Suan Dusit Poll conducted between August 8 to 11 disagreed and said that the change “isn’t worth it”.
Some 45 per cent of the respondents said they did not think any voting system would make any difference to the corruption issue, according to results of the survey released yesterday. Politics is monopolised by the two major parties and most of the time people elected are the same faces from the same parties, the respondents said.
The poll was conducted after the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) had proposed to abolish the old voting system and replace it with a version in which each candidate in each constituency race would draw lots to determine their poll number. Candidates affiliated with a party would not have the same number across all constituencies.
However, almost three quarters or 74.8 per cent viewed the old system’s advantageous point was that it was easier to understand and recognise the candidate and the party.
Some 65 per cent also said the system has long been practised and people were more accustomed to it. And about 64 per cent said it was good because it is easier for the party to campaign.