Thailand's House of Representatives election started at 8 a.m. local time on Sunday.

About 50 million eligible voters cast ballots at polling stations across the Southeast Asian country to elect 500 members of the House of Representatives.

All voters will receive three separate ballots: a green ballot for the local candidate by constituency, a pink ballot for selecting a preferred political party from a party list, and a yellow ballot for a national referendum on whether to proceed with the drafting of a new constitution.

Under Thai law, of the 500 seats available in Thailand's House of Representatives, 400 will be elected in constituencies across the country, while the remaining 100 will be allocated to political parties on a proportional basis.

The outcome of the constitutional referendum will determine whether the parliament will initiate the constitutional amendment process.

Polling stations will close at 5 p.m. local time, with unofficial results expected later that night.

Final official vote counts must be released no later than April 9, and the new parliament must convene a session within 15 days to elect a speaker. Once the speaker is chosen, the House of Representatives will vote to elect the new prime minister.

Local public opinion generally views this election as a contest among three major political parties: the Bhumjaithai Party, the People's Party, and the Pheu Thai Party. It is considered unlikely that any single party will secure enough seats to form a government on its own. Therefore, the new cabinet will likely be formed through a coalition.

(With input from Xinhua)