Thailand's Anti-Government Protesters Move To Block Voting
Anti-government protesters in Thailand who are demanding the ouster of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra have moved to block, and in some cases padlock, polling stations in an effort to disrupt early voting for the Feb. 2 elections.
The protesters oppose elections because, they charge, Yingluck's political allies will engage in vote-buying and other corrupt practices to secure a win.
NPR's Michael Sullivan, reporting from Chiang Rai in the country's north, says that "protesters are doing whatever they can to disrupt the February 2 election. Today they chained shut the doors to many polling stations in the capital where advance voting was to take place, denying voters the right to cast their ballots."
The BBC reports: "Voting was either blocked completely or halted at 49 out of 50 polling stations in Bangkok. Early voting was also disrupted in 10 of Thailand's 76 provinces, reports said."
One protest leader was shot in the head near a polling station where demonstrators clashed with supporters of the embattled prime minister.
The BBC says:
"Suthin Taratin was speaking on top of a truck, which was part of a rally at a polling station where advanced voting was supposed to take place, when he was struck by gunfire."