Early voting for the House of Representatives election has started, with more than two million eligible voters unable to cast their ballots on the official polling day of Feb 8 participating in the process.
Voters taking part in early voting received two ballot papers at polling stations: one to elect a constituency candidate for the House of Representatives, and the other to vote for their preferred political party.
All ballots will be counted together after Feb 8.
Over 50 million voters will elect a total of 500 members of the House of Representatives, among whom 400 will be elected from local constituencies and the remaining 100 will be allocated to political parties based on the proportion of their popular votes.
According to statistics from the Election Commission of Thailand, 57 political parties are contesting the House seats and have nominated over 90 candidates for the prime ministerial post.
The final official vote count results must be released no later than April 9.
The new parliament must convene a session within 15 days to elect a speaker, after which the House of Representatives will vote to select the new prime minister.
In the run-up to the election, participating parties, as well as their candidates for parliamentary seats and the premiership, have held campaign rallies across the country, with campaign advertisements lining the streets and alleys.
Pre-election opinion polls by multiple institutions show that the conservative Bhumjaithai Party, led by caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, is neck-and-neck in support rate with the People’s Party, the successor to the progressive Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the last general election.
The populist Pheu Thai Party, backed by the family of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, follows closely in the polls.
Mainstream public opinion analysis in Thailand holds that no single party is likely to secure an overwhelming majority of seats, and the formation of the new government will ultimately depend on post-election negotiations between political parties.
Thailand’s last general election was held in May 2023, and incumbent caretaker Prime Minister Anutin is the third prime minister since then. — Xinhua
