Record voter turnout of 70% expected for Bangkok elections today
City Hall expects a record-breaking voter turnout of 70 per cent in the Bangkok governor and councillor elections on Sunday, with residents keen to have their say after nine years without city elections.
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) said 167,298 officials have been deployed to 6,817 polling stations across the capital, including security guards and health volunteers.
Meanwhile, election coordination centres and ballot storage facilities were ready, it added.
BMA said votes in the governor and council elections will be counted simultaneously.
Once the count is completed, officials will submit the results to Bangkok City Hall 2 in Din Daeng district for processing. Citizens and members of the media can follow the election results there, BMA said.
Press conferences to report the election results will be held periodically, it added.
Bangkok election commission chairman Somchai Surakarnkul said an online vote-counting system would be used for this election. The same system had worked well during the last Bangkok governor election in 2013, he added. The 2013 governor election saw a voter turnout of 63.98 per cent, the highest since the first election in 1975. Elections were suspended in 2014 following the military coup.
Polling station officials will also be on hand to help people – including the disabled and seniors – to cast votes, while special polling stations for Covid-positive or at-risk voters are available.
Somchai also asked voters to ensure that alcohol gel on their hands is dry before they mark the ballot paper, to avoid spoiling their vote. They should also refrain from photographing their ballots at polling stations.