Bangkok: Polling started in Thailand’s first election on Sunday after political crisis as voters are casting their votes to pick up 500 members of the House of Representatives, news agencies reported.
There are 47.3 million eligible voters and 90,860 polling stations across the country. Some 3 million voters, however, registered to cast their votes for the advance polling on June 26.
Polling began at 8:00 a.m. throughout the nation and voters were lining up at polling centers for turn to cast their ballots.
The opposition Pheu Thai Party’s prime ministerial candidate Yingluck Shinawatra cast her ballot at 8:10 a.m. and caretaker Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva went to cast his ballot with his family at Sawasdee Wittaya School polling station at 10:00 a.m. in Bangkok.
Yingluck, the youngest sister of the fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, urged Thai voters to come for voting before she left for the party to wait for the election results.
She could become the first female premier of Thailand if her party wins the election.
While Abhisit asked eligible voters to turn out as many as possible because this election is important to the future of the country.
Unofficial results are expected at about 6 p.m., he said.
