By Xinhua
Bangkok : Thailand’s senate elections closed Sunday afternoon, while the Election Commission (EC) said it received 34 complaints of election irregularities. The commission announced that unofficial results should be known before midnight.
Election Commissioner Prapan Naikowit said soon after the voting that the poll agency had received 34 complaints, most of them relating to giving money to eligible voters.
The complaints, however, were on a smaller scale than during last December’s general elections, when the EC received more than 100 complaints, Prapan was quoted by the official Thai News Agency as saying.
Unofficial results of the 150-seat Senate (Upper House) election were expected to be known as early as 10 p.m. (1500 GMT), seven hours after the polling stations closed, he said.
“Endorsement of senators winning the election by the EC is expected to be made on March 5 so that they could perform duty in parliament,” said Prapan.
The EC will investigate those accused of fraud in the election within 30 days, he said.
A total of 76 candidates will be elected, one for each province, including Bangkok, and will be seated in the upper chamber with 74 senators appointed earlier by a selection panel and already endorsed by the EC