Thailand’s election: about 2.1 million voters register to vote in advance (Photo: https:asianews.network) Bangkok (VNA)- About 2.1 million eligible Thai voters, including111,069 living abroad, have registered to cast their ballots in advance on May 7,one week ahead of the general election in Thailand on May 14.
Election Commission (EC) Secretary-General Sawaeng Boonmee said 2,153,450 Thaisregistered between March 25 and April 9 to vote in advance, adding, however, that the actualnumber may be higher, because online registration ended at midnight on April 9 and there are a number of registrations by mail which are yet to arrive at theEC’s registration office.
He cited some of the problemsencountered by advance voters, for example some were not able to check whether their registration was recorded after having completed the registrationform, or many had to spend several hours to complete the registration process.
Manyadvance voters have tweeted or posted hashtags complaining about their failure to register and urging the EC to extend the midnight deadline.
TheForeign Ministry’s Consular Affairs Department has set up a situation room tocoordinate with the EC, the Ministry of Interior, Thailand Post and 94 Thaiconsular offices and embassies abroad, to ensure smooth vote casting abroad,using the OVMS web application./.