The Election Commission expects unofficial results of the election to be known by 11pm on Sunday, saying results of ballot counts from polling stations nationwide will be compiled, verified and then published via its ECT Report website from 7pm onwards.
The ECT Report website is capable of handling up to one million users per minute, said Suranee Pontawee, deputy secretary-general of the commission.
The EC will report results of the election in three main categories: overall figures of nationwide ballot counts, election results by province and results by political party, she said.
Voting will take place from 8am to 5pm on Sunday. The first update is expected by 7pm, after polling station committees finish recording results of their ballot counts and begin submitting the data to the EC through ECT Report, she said.
The Government Big Data Institute is responsible for publishing the results on the web.
To minimise the chances of human error, each ballot counting team will have two staff members and each team will be assigned to handle results from no more than 20 polling stations, said Ms Suranee.
The EC will verify results in each polling station first by comparing them against turnout figures and all types of votes counted in that particular station before publishing them online, she said.
EC secretary-general Sawaeng Boonmee, meanwhile, said everyone is allowed to photograph or film a vote count as long as they don’t disturb the process.
Taking a picture of a marked ballot, however, is against the election law, he cautioned.
Observers are allowed to immediately correct ballot-counting staff when they notice a mistake, he said.
They are also allowed to file a written complaint at the polling station regarding any possible mistakes in ballot counting. Staff members at the station are required to record the objection, along with the station committee’s response, he said.
The Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw) group has been recruiting thousands of volunteers to work as election observers at polling stations across the country. It has published detailed instructions for voters on its Election 66 page.
Meanwhile, the Royal Thai Police have insisted all officers who will be deployed at polling stations have been trained on election laws and are required to maintain political neutrality to ensure law and order on polling day.
