BANGKOK, March 18 (TNA) — The turnout for advance voting on March 17 was at 86.98% and its problems will be solved for the March 24 polling date, said their chairman of the Election Commission.
Ittiporn Boonpracong, the EC chairman, said that the nationwide turnout was among the 2.6 million people who had registered for the early voting nationwide and area-based turnouts exceeded 90% in many areas.
According to him, suspected frauds happened in three provinces.
In Samut Sakhon, ballots from a book were marked in advance for a candidate of a particular party. The lot was replaced before the advance voting. In Uthai Thani, some people presented others’ ID cards to cast votes. In Kalasin, fake documents were used to claim a candidate was disqualified.
Besides, in many province voters received ballots from other constituencies and the EC’s Smart Vote application software did not work from 8.30am to 8.45am on March 17.
The EC mostly opened polling units from 8am to 5pm as scheduled but the voting hours were extended in some polling units where crowds of voters showed up. The unit in Bang Kapi district of Bangkok opened until 6pm for all eligible voters who arrived within 5pm to cast their votes, Mr Ittiporn said. (TNA)
