Suan Dusit scraps exit poll

Suan Dusit scraps exit poll

Suan Dusit Poll announced Tuesday it has scrapped plans to conduct exit polling for Sunday election for Bangkok governor.

The group blamed "the current political situation" and growing competition in polling.

The upcoming gubernatorial election will be the first without a Suan Dusit Poll exit poll since it started during the 2000 city election, won by the late Samak Sundaravej.

The Suan Dusit Poll committee said the public no longer provides unbiased answers to exit pollers, because of political conflict and uncertainty over whether the pollsters themselves are neutral, poll director Sukhum Chaloeysap said.

Mr Sukhum concluded that an exit poll is no longer worth the effort, since it takes only an hour for dependable, unofficial ballot countingm only minutes slower than the exit poll results. The national TV pool broadcasts results in real time, he said.

He also cited pressure on the Suan Dusit Poll and other groups. The organisation is under "attentive watch" after questions and allegations about whether the Suan Dusit Poll is biased towards the government.

In addition, even though the polls are conducted for research purposes, there can be mistakes which are violation of electoral laws, he said.

The official also revealed that fake pollsters have claimed to be working for Suan Dusit Poll in order to collect election information for personal use.

Mr Sukhum added that pollsters are now required to remain at least 100 metres from voting places on election day, making it difficult to get to the voters.

An alternative, the Suan Dusit "entry poll" will take the measure of voters on Friday, two days before the election.


Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (10)