Hundreds struggle to find their names on
voting lists at Banglamung School in pre-election voting last weekend.
Staff reporters
Some 65,000 Chonburi residents cast early ballots for
this weekend’s general election despite traffic gridlock and
polling-place chaos.
The warm-up to Sunday’s nationwide parliamentary
balloting went anything but smoothly at Banglamung School, where
hundreds struggled to find their names on voting lists, properly work
the ballot box and determine why computers showed they’d already cast
votes hundreds of kilometers away.
Police also look unprepared for the turnout, as
traffic gridlocked much of the Eastern Seaboard.
Despite the organizational disarray, the vote was
peaceful with none of the political violence many had feared.
Red-shirted supporters of the Pheu Thai Party concerned about government
vote tampering restrained themselves to merely watching and
photographing poll workers.
Election Commission officials said 65,303 of the
115,592 people who registered for early voting cast ballots June 26.
Visiting the Banglamung polls, Chonburi Gov. Wichit
Chatpaisit noted the province is second only to Bangkok in early votes
cast, due to its large population of migrant workers.
Normally, Thais have to return to their registered
home town to vote. However, those who live away from home can
pre-register to vote a week early. Despite the hundreds of thousands of
Northeast Thailand natives working in the Pattaya area, surprisingly few
take advantage of the opportunity.
Sometimes, though, it doesn’t matter. Ranai Kalerum,
27, was turned away from the Banglamung polling station because records
showed he’d already cast a vote earlier that day in Buriram, more than
500 kilometers away. Election Commission officials surmised someone
masquerading as Ranai had voted in his home town.
Ranai wasn’t the only frustrated voter in Pattaya.
During their visits, Chatpaisit and Chonburi Election Commission
Chairman Santipol Patanasanguan both did their best to calm voters, but
many still couldn’t locate their named on printed voting rolls. The
governor had computers brought in to speed things up.
Despite widespread congestion on the area’s roads,
Royal Thai Police Chief Pol. Gen. Wichian Pochabhosri expressed
satisfaction during his 2 p.m. visit with the overall peacefulness of
the day and the effort police and volunteers were making to keep it that
way.
