Heavy rain and winds played havoc with ballot casting in Nakhon Pathom when a storm toppled polling station 10 a mere 15 minutes before closing time on May 14. Nonetheless, 80% of eligible voters had already made their voices heard by then. Despite resolving to hold a new voting session, the provincial Election Commission faced the daunting task of motivating the remaining 763 out of 943 voters to cast their votes once more.
Election officials undertook door-to-door campaigning in an attempt to improve voter turnout for the second round. However, despite their efforts, the turnout appeared modest, with only a handful of eager voters waiting in queue when the polling station reopened its doors at 8 am. Among them was 70-year-old Somchai Titakarun, who shared his views on the matter. He remarked that the prospect of voting again was not particularly thrilling and expressed doubt about the likelihood of many people showing up.
In light of unofficial vote counts, the electoral odds seemed to be stacked against Move Forward’s Jaruphan Phetdee, who garnered 12,297 votes, trailing Chart Thai Pattana’s Supachoke Srisukjorn with 15,082 votes. Even if Jaruphan were to secure votes from all the remaining 943 voters, he would still fall behind Supachoke.
Nevertheless, Nakhon Pathom’s deputy governor, Yongyuth Suanthong, remained hopeful that the majority of voters would exercise their democratic right before the polling station shut down for the day at 5 pm. Despite the logistical challenges posed by the storm and its aftermath, the determination of the Election Commission and the optimistic outlook of local authorities served as a testament to the importance of preserving and upholding the democratic process in the face of adversity.
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