Polls close, ballot boxes sealed

Описание: (2 Apr 2006)

1. Overhead shot of polling station in gymnasium
2. Police officer at desk
3. Close-up of clock reading "3pm"
4. Official in foreground, someone casting last ballot in background
5. Man taping up ballot box
6. Woman taping paper on top of ballot box
7. Overhead shot of police officer sealing box
8. Woman sealing box, tilt down as tag at bottom is examined
9. Woman tying string on box
10. Close-up of candle melting wax on string
11. Close-up of wax piling up
12. Wax dripped on box, with other boxes being sealed in background
13. Police officers filling in papers

STORYLINE:

Poll stations closed across Thailand on Sunday afternoon as the country's controversial general election ended and ballot boxes were being removed for counting.

Remote-controlled bombs exploded near three polling stations in Thailand's restive south, injuring at least two soldiers and one police officer after polls had closed and ballot boxes were being removed for counting, police said.

The violence came amid growing calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who called the snap elections three years early in an effort to reassert his mandate after weeks of persistent street protests against his government.

All three opposition parties responded by boycotting the vote in protest, urging Thailand's 45 million registered voters to cast ballots but to tick the abstention box.

Thaksin has promised step down if his party receives less than 50 percent of the vote - an outcome seen as highly unlikely given his strong support among the rural majority.

But the opposition hopes the boycott will make it impossible to fill all five hundred legislative seats, which many legal experts say could make it impossible to convene Parliament and form a new government.

Exit polls estimations were expected later on Sunday.

Official results were not expected until Tuesday, the Election Commission said.

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