EC petitioned on 'indicative element' in pre-balloting survey

A Bangkok gubernatorial candidate said he would petition the Election Commission (EC) today, asking it to ban further preelection surveys on voter preferences for the upcoming March 3 election.

Seripisut Temiyavet, who has ranked third in all the surveys to date, said he would represent the public in petitioning the EC, which earlier claimed it could not take any action against pollsters for lack of a complainant.

Observers in some quarters of Thai society said preelection survey results could influence eligible voters, and called for a ban on such polls.

Meanwhile, the two latest academic surveys gave Pheu Thai candidate Pongsapat Pongcharoen an edge over his closest rival, former Bangkok governor, Democrat candidate Sukhumbhand Paribatra.

The ABAC Poll, the research arm of Assumption University, said 42 per cent of voters favoured Pongsapat against 33.5 per cent for Sukhumbhand. Suan Dusit Rajabhat University’s Suan Dusit Poll, which conducted the latest survey between February 26, found that 42.59 per cent of voters said they would vote for Pongsapat and 34.31 per cent for Sukhumbhand. Seripisut placed third with 8.6 per cent in the ABAC Poll and 6.38 per cent in the Suan Dusit Poll.

According to the ABAC Poll, conducted from January 31February 6, 63.5 per cent of eligible voters said they would actually vote while 36.5 per cent said they would not.