2014 Thailand Senate Election Sunday March 30,2014

Thais voted on Sunday March 30,2014 for half of the country's 150-seat Senate in a key test for Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's troubled government, a day before the prime minister is due to defend herself against negligence charges over a disastrous rice subsidy scheme.

Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is due to appear before the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) on Monday March 31,2014 to defend herself against charges of dereliction of duty for her role in overseeing the botched rice scheme.

Thailand's 150-seat Senate is made up of 77 elected senators.

The other 73 seats are chosen by a committee that includes the heads of the National-Anti Corruption Commission, Constitutional Court, Election Commission, State Audit Commission and a representative of the Supreme Court.

Party affiliation is prohibited in the non-partisan Senate, the majority of the 77 elected seats will be decided on the basis of endorsements from powerful, party-affiliated, local institutions, particularly in rural areas, meaning that the result could deliver a pro-Yingluck majority.

The Senate vote is likely to deliver a result similar to the nullified February 2 election for the lower house, meaning it will be pro-government