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Executive Summary

“Political Activities and Electoral Behaviors in the 2019

General Election in Songkhla Province

Background and Significance of the research

The General Election of 24 March 2019 was the first election under the Constitution of
the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2560 (2017), which was drafted under the political situation after

the coup by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha
and after that became prime minister. The provisions of this constitution are very different from the

previous constitutions, especially when compared to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand
B.E. 2540 (1997) in case of election of members of the House of Representatives (MPs). The

new constitution proceed the Mixed Member Apportionment (MMA) system for the first time. This
new electoral system voters vote on a single ballot not only vote for constituency candidate but

also for party-list candidates. Different from previous elections under the Constitution of the King-
dom of Thailand B.E. 2540 (1997) and B.E. 2550 (2007) which used a Parallel System, there are

2 ballots, one for MP in the district and the other for party-list system. Moreover, the party-list
system carried on under the whole country as a constituency and vote-counting is separated.