BANGKOK — Organizers of the upcoming referendum, in which millions of Thais would decide whether to accept or reject a new constitution, were dismayed to find that only a fraction of those voters signed up for voting outside their hometowns.

Although there are 20 million Thais living outside their registered residences, only 230,000 of them – or around one percent – signed up to be eligible for voting by Thursday, the last day of registration, Election Commissioner Sawaeng Boonmee announced.

“It means that people who live outside their registered electoral areas have little interest [in the vote],” Sawaeng lamented.

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Apart from the possibility that millions of voters may not bother to travel home and miss the votes on Aug. 7 altogether, a civil rights group also warned earlier this week that many members of the public do not even know when the vote will take place, or what will be asked in the referendum.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Sawaeng said his agency will use several measures to reach the goal of an 80 percent turnout rate, such as dispatching local administrators to “knock on doors” of residents and encourage them to show up to vote.

He said he will also ask for cooperation from employers across the country to let weekend-shift workers have a day off on Aug. 7 so they can travel to their home provinces and vote.

“As for other measures, right now they are being discussed by the central body of the Election Commission,” Sawaeng said.

The referendum on Aug. 7 will ask voters to accept or reject the new constitution drafted under the military government that seized power two years ago. The junta wants the public to endorse it, while its opponents are urging otherwise.

Also asked in the same referendum is a vaguely-worded question about whether voters would allow the Senate and the House of Parliament to select a non-elected person to serve as Prime Minister in the upcoming “five years of transition period.”

But according to a group opposed to the charter, most people don’t even know what will be asked. In a survey of 158 people published Sunday by the Internet Law Reform Dialogue, or iLaw, 90 percent of respondents said they didn’t know about the second question in the referendum.

In the same survey, conducted between June 29 and July 1, 70 percent of respondents could not correctly identify the date of the referendum.

“It indicates that people still lack sufficient information to cast their ballot at the referendum with understanding of the issues,” Jon Ungpakorn, founder of iLaw, said in a press release.

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BANGKOK — Legal reform advocates sued elections officials today over a state-produced TV show they say has been entirely devoted to praising the proposed constitution that will soon be put to public referendum.

As the Election Commission’s referendum program has so far only featured proponents of the new charter, law reform activists said it’s guilty of violating its own draconian campaign law and overstepping its mandate as an impartial organizer of the Aug. 7 poll.

“We want the show removed because it’s not neutral, and it violates the Election Commission’s own regulations,” said Yingcheep Atchanont, a coordinator of the Internet Law Reform Dialogue, or iLaw.

The suit, filed in Administrative Court on Wednesday, demands the show be taken off the air.

It’s iLaw’s second legal challenge to the Election Commission. On June 29 the Constitutional Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by the group which sought to overturn the commission’s referendum law that has been used to arrest those campaigning against the charter. The law stipulates jail terms for any members of the commission found to act impartially.

The effusively titled show, “August 7, the Referendum That Binds All Hearts,” runs on all state-owned TV and radio stations for 30 minutes every Monday and Wednesday. A final is to air the day before the public goes to vote.

Election Commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said in response to the suit that his body was not responsible for the guest lineup.

“Each station was instructed to invite speakers and opinionated people from the two sides,” Somchai said at a news conference. “The [commission] will not interfere.”

He also defended the impartiality of the program, saying the final guest list includes representatives from both sides.

Yet so far, only members of the Election Commission, the charter’s drafters and junta-appointed members of the interim legislature have appeared on the three episodes aired since it started June 27.

The June 29 episode “What will people receive from the new constitution?” featured two guests discussing for 30 minutes the reforms the charter will being in many fields, such as health and education.

Wednesday evening’s episode was to feature Chulalongkorn University lecturer and land rights activist Prapart Pintobtang, the first guest not associated with the pro-charter camp.

The episode may be pre-empted by a women’s volleyball game.

A representative from the opposition Pheu Thai Party, which has urged supporters to reject the charter, won’t appear until July 27.

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