BANGKOK, 21 March 2013 According to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), an estimated 1.52 million people failed to exercise their voting rights in the March 3 gubernatorial election.
The BMA announced that non-voting Bangkok citizens who failed to notify district offices of their reasons by March 10 have had their six political rights revoked.
These rights include the right to oppose and apply to run in local elections including the post of village headman. They are also not allowed to be listed in any petition filed for a change to regulations enforced in their localities until their absence is rectified.
The areas with the highest rate of absence were Chatuchak and Bang Khen.
During the March 3 election, the poll registered the record number of voter turnout at 2.7 million or nearly 64 of the total Bangkok population.