PUBLISHED: 3 Feb 2025 at 12:50
In a significant turnout for the recent election of provincial administrative organization (PAO) presidents across 47 provinces, nearly 2 million ballots were reported as invalid or no-vote. According to the statistics released by the Election Commission, the elections took place on Saturday, drawing substantial participation but also raising concerns regarding the number of invalid votes.
Out of over 27.99 million eligible voters, 16.36 million, or 58.45%, exercised their right to vote, with 931,290 ballots deemed invalid, making up 5.69% of total votes. Additionally, over 1.17 million voters selected the no-vote option, accounting for 7.08% of all ballots.
In the concurrent elections for provincial councillors in 76 provinces, a total of 47.12 million eligible voters were identified, with 26.42 million (56.06%) participating. This election also witnessed 1.49 million invalid ballots (5.63%) and 1.80 million no-vote ballots (6.81%).
The northern province of Lamphun achieved the highest voter turnout, reaching 73.43% for both the PAO presidential and provincial councillor elections. Notably, the opposition Peoples Party candidate secured victory in this election, marking a significant breakthrough in local government representation.
