Similar to vote counts in general elections, the results will be tallied at every polling station nationwide. Ballot boxes will be closed at 4pm and officials will count unused ballot papers before counting “yes” and “no” votes, he said.

Results will be reported in the media and the EC’s Facebook page to ensure transparency.

The EC is expecting to begin receiving results from each polling station at about 6pm. It anticipates being able to report 95 per cent of results by 9pm, he said, assuming the telephone signal is not disrupted and weather is good.

He said he was confident computer servers used for the count will not collapse and the results will be broadcast live on several TV channels and Facebook.

Somchai denied that the new ballot boxes would lead to fraud, saying that they have a lid and can be locked.

“To open the lock, five officials stationed at the polling station must endorse their signature. If this lock is cut, the five officials must acknowledge it,” he said.

Responding to concerns that the new transparent plastic boxes might allow people to see ballots and results, he said no one could identify names on the papers once they are folded in the boxes.

He said he was embarrassed when a new ballot box broke while he was testing it. “But if you see it in a positive way, such news can help increase voters’ awareness to cast their ballots,” he said.

He said that engineers who made the boxes said that the strength of the box should be tested with lid closed. “Broken boxes can also indicate that we are going to have a large turnout that makes ballot boxes burst,” he said.Meanwhile,president Pornpetch Wichitcholchai yesterday admitted that he was concerned about the possibility of the charter draft being rejected after lawmakers from both political camps voice opposition to it.

“I am also worried that the results of referendum would be wrongly interpreted. Someone has said that if the draft is accepted, they will react in one way and if it is rejected, they will react in another way,” he said.

Pornpetch said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had made it clear that if the draft is accepted, the road map for democracy would proceed and if it was rejected, the interim charter would be amended to pave way for the drafting of the new charter.