FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Election delay? It’s gerrymandering, stupid

Election delay? It’s gerrymandering, stupid

Gerrymandering, according to Wikipedia, is “a practice intended to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries”.

The redrawing of Thailand’s constituencies in the upcoming general election may be a case in point.
To accommodate all 350 MPs, some constituencies will become bigger while others will shrink. And here’s the trick.
There are studies and real-world practices in many countries across the world that demonstrate how gerrymandering can affect voting outcomes.
Is it possible that the reason an election date hasn’t been set in stone yet and may be pushed back further is because the electoral system is still being “refigured” to ensure or, failing that, to strongly influence an outcome favouring the alliance of political parties supporting the regime?
This may be just an exercise in speculation. But it’s enticing food for thought, nonetheless.
Anan Pakvasa
Bangkok

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