The referendum on the junta-sponsored draft constitution was held today and the draft was accepted with a (for many) surprisingly low margin of 58. 24% vs. 41.76% against. The Northeast turned in a resounding “No” vote and in the North it was a close contest.
The military-installed government campaigned for the acceptance of the charter draft while opposing campaigns were threatened with criminal prosecution. Arguably, had the government disseminated unbiased information about the charter, there’s a chance that the draft might have been rejected.
Here’s what I witnessed at leisurely temple serving as a polling station today:
A transparent glass box serving as the ballot box is placed in the center of the room. The voter walking into the polling station sees the box first, with all the ballots already cast clearly visible. He or she might thus fear that his or her ballot can be identified after it has been cast into the box and that thus, her vote can be linked to her identity. In a culture such as Thailand’s that demands preserving face and not creating a public embarrassment for oneself and others, this is especially severe and might be an effective deterrent from the “wrong vote” for many. IMHO placing a glass ballot box out in the open space not very democratic and I haven’t this in other elections in Thailand. The government is obviously compromising the secrecy of the vote to help a favorable outcome.
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