Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont (L) casts his vote at a polling station in Bangkok Aug. 19, 2007. Thailand held a referendum on its draft constitutionan Aug. 19. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)
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    BANGKOK, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Final counting results showed the new constitution draft passed a national referendum held on Sunday, with 57.81 percent of "Yes" votes, Thailand's Election Commission (EC) declared Monday.

    The official results showed the new constitution draft won 14,727,407 votes, or 57.81 percent of the eligible votes, while 10,747,310 people or 42.19 percent rejected it in the country's first-ever national referendum, said EC Secretary-General and spokesman Suthiphon Thaweechaiyagarn.

    The results showed a total of 25,978,954 or 57.61 percent of the kingdom's 45,093,055 eligible voters exercised their rights in the referendum. There were some 500,000 void ballots.

    Most of the "Yes" votes came from the central and southern regions as well as the capital, while the majority votes against the charter came from the northern and northeastern regions, considered strongholds of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the now defunct Thai Rak Thai party, the former ruling party founded by Thaksin.

    The EC will forward it to the 35-member Constitution Drafting Committee later on the day and announce the results officially to the public Monday evening.

    The EC will also forward complaints of accused cheating practice activities in the referendum to the police for questioning, and criminal proceedings will be filed against those found to have committed them.

    The EC had said it had received reports about more than 100 cases of electoral frauds aimed to sway voters, including buying votes either for or against the charter, handing out leaflets and making public speeches.

    Once endorsed by the King Bhumibol Aduyaldej, the military-backed new charter draft will take effect as Thailand's 18th constitution since it ended an autocratic monarchy in 1932 and established a constitutional monarchy, which all of the 18 constitutions have upheld.

A Thai Muslim woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Thailand's Yala province, around 1084 km (672 miles) south of Bangkok, Aug. 19, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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