POLL WINNER TO BE KNOWN BY MIDNIGHT

Written by changthai11 on Sunday, October 5th, 2008

The unofficial results of the Bangkok governor election are expected to be announced by midnight today, City Clerk Pongsak Semsant said.

He said the city is fully prepared to hold today’s governor election and expects voter turnout to be as high as 70%.

His only concern is heavy rainfall that has been forecast which could discourage people from voting.

Voters will be allowed to cast ballots from 8am to 3pm. After that, ballot boxes will be sent to the 50 district offices for vote counting.

Mr Pongsak said results would be constantly updated and the unofficial winner would be known no later than midnight.

City Hall, where votes will be sent from all of Bangkok’s 50 districts to be counted, is abuzz with activity as 20 computers have been installed there and two giant LCD screens erected in front of the municipal offices.

Unofficial results will continuously appear on the screens for the enthusiastic crowd.

Sixteen candidates are contesting for the four-year term and they plan to send their representatives to monitor the counting of votes.

Pol Gen Wichian Potphosri, chief of the Royal Thai Police Office’s election supervision centre, said more than 12,000 police officers will be dispatched to maintain peace and order at polling stations in the city.

About 300 investigators have been assigned to handle poll fraud complaints.

He said Bangkokians would be wise not to breach the election law which bans all forms of gambling and disallows the sale of alcohol from 6pm yesterday until midnight today.