WELLINGTON, March 25 (TNA) — The Thai embassy in Wellington stated that it was not responsible for the late delivery of earlier cast ballots and it was grateful for Thai people in New Zealand for exercising their voting right.
The embassy stated that it had delivered ballots by air from Wellington on March 18 and they had been scheduled to arrive in Thailand on March 19. The transport process was beyond the responsibility of the embassy, it said.
“The embassy understands the feelings of all voters and seriously regrets that the voices of voters and ours in New Zealand were not counted in this election,” the Thai embassy stated.
It said embassy staff and volunteers had spent more than two months preparing and organizing the advance voting. The voting took place on March 4-16 through a polling unit at the embassy, by mail and at a mobile poll unit.
It said 1,862 people had registered for the advance voting and 1,542 of them, or 82.81%, cast ballots.
The Election Commission announced on Sunday that the ballots from New Zealand were left at a cargo warehouse of Thai Airways International when polls closed at 5pm on the day. (TNA)
