BANGKOK, Feb 3 (TNA) – Thailand’s Election Commission reported a 58.45% turnout in provincial elections held on Saturday, marking a 4% decline from the previous polls in 2020, amid concerns over ballot discrepancies in several provinces.
The elections for Provincial Administrative Organization (PAO) chiefs saw 16.3 million voters cast their ballots out of 27.9 million eligible voters, with 87.23% of votes deemed valid, according to Election Commission Secretary-General Sawaeng Boonmee.
The parallel council member elections recorded a slightly lower turnout of 56.06%, with 26.4 million out of 47.1 million eligible voters participating.
Election officials discovered vote count irregularities in four to five provinces, prompting investigations into the discrepancies between ballot numbers and voter turnout figures.
The Commission announced that new elections would be necessary in four districts across four provinces where vote counts fell short of requirements or candidates were disqualified.
The opposition People’s Party has challenged the results in Chiang Mai and Samut Prakan provinces, citing unusually high numbers of invalid ballots. Boonmee said any recount requests would need to meet strict criteria, including evidence that formal objections were raised during the initial count. – 819 (TNA)
