Majority Thais approve single-ballot voting

Bangkok: A majority of Thais approve a single ballot voting method to select MPs from both constituencies and the party list, an opinion poll issued on Sunday showed.

More than 60 percent of a total of 1,156 respondents surveyed nationwide from November 2-7 voiced support for using only one ballot when voting for constituency and party list MPs, according to the results of a poll by the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University.

The survey was conducted as the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) resolved to maintain a German-styled mixed member proportional (MMP) electoral system, which was proposed by a previous charter drafting body, Xinhua news agency reported.

Unlike their predecessors, however, the present CDC decided to use a single-ballot voting system instead of a two-ballot one.

While the majority of the respondents believed it was easy for them to understand the single-ballot method and for votes to be counted, 39.02 percent still preferred to cast two ballots, one for a constituency MP and the other for a political party.

Thailand expects to have a new general election around mid-2017, according to the government's current roadmap, which allows six months for drafting a new constitution, four months for holding a public referendum, another six months for drafting organic laws and four additional months for election preparations.