Expatriate Thais will vote at the nearest embassy or consulate in their countries of residence between March 4-16. (Photo: bangkokpost.com)Bangkok (VNA) - More than 1.5 million people have registered for advance voting ahead ofthe March 24 general election in Thailand while 85,000 people officially signedup as overseas voters, Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) Secretary GeneralJarungvith Phumma said.
Overseas Thai voters can cast their ballots at the nearest headquarters of Thaiembassies or consulate generals in host countries from March 4-16, according toJarungvith.
Voters began registering on Jan 28 and February19 was the last day to register. Besides, they were able to registeronline until midnight of February 19.
Jarungvith said the EC could not extend thedeadline as it needed time to calculate the exact numbers in order to determinehow many polling stations would be needed for early voting.
More voters have registered this year than aheadof the last election, he noted.
The election will be the first in theSoutheast Asian nation since the military coup in 2014.
A total of 500 MPs will be elected,including 350 MPs for individual constituencies and 150 others on the partylist.
Earlier this month, a total of 11,181 people had applied to run as candidatesin individual constituencies. Of them, 389 candidates have been disqualified,according to the EC.
Meanwhile, 68 candidates have been verified by the polling agency to run forthe post of prime minister, including Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who hadbeen named by the Palang Pracharath Party, and former PM and Democrat Partyleader Abhisit Vejjajiva. -VNA
VNA
