1st LD: Thai draft constitution adopted in referendum

Thailand's Election Commission (EC) said Sunday night that with 94 percent of ballots counted, a draft constitution and its additional question were adopted in a referendum held earlier in the day.

The commission said the vote counting was frozen for Sunday and the counting will resume on Monday.

Unofficial results from the Election Commission showed 15.56 million Thais, or 61.4 percent of total voters, backed the draft constitution as 9.78 million, or 38.6 percent, voted against it.

About 13.97 million Thais, or 58.11 percent of the voters, agreed to give 250 senators picked by the junta, or the National Council for Peace and Order, the power to elect a prime minister along with 500 elected members of the House of Representatives while 10.07 million, or 41.89 percent, voted against it.

The draft constitution won approval in most parts of Thailand, while only in the Northeastern part that opponents of the draft and the additional question outnumbered supporters.

Some 27.62 million Thais cast ballots in Sunday's referendum. It is estimated that the turnout would be around 58 percent, slightly higher than the 57.61 percent in the 2007 referendum but far lower than the EC's expected 80 percent.

EC Chairman Supachai Somcharoen said shortly after all polling stations closed on Sunday that the official results were expected on Wednesday. Endit