The Election Commission (EC) will meet this morning to consider alleged election irregularities in Chonburi’s Constituency 1, after large crowds gathered overnight to demand a recount following reports of misplaced ballot boxes, power outages during counting and discrepancies in vote totals.
They allege that ballot boxes were being kept inside a badminton court and were being prepared for relocation without seals, as required by regulations.
Meanwhile, Chanin Noilek, an EC deputy secretary-general, arrived at the gathering in Chonburi’s Muang district at about 1.30am this morning.
He said any recount would have to be ordered by EC commissioners, who are scheduled to meet at 10am today.
Having started yesterday afternoon, the gathering continued through the night, with residents and students calling on the Chonburi provincial election commission to inspect ballot boxes from Constituency 1.
They claim that the boxes were stored in a badminton court, rather than at the previously specified location, and that they were about to be moved without being sealed.
Large crowds surrounded the vehicle carrying the ballot boxes and demanded an explanation from election officials, calling for transparency in the vote-counting process.
Their petition listed several suspicious issues:
· Power outages at some polling stations during vote counting, potentially creating opportunities for fraud.
· At some stations, the total number of ballots did not match the number of ballots cast, resulting in so-called “floating ballots”.
· Vote counting at certain stations did not follow proper procedures.
As of 5am today, the situation had begun to ease, but residents remained on site and continued to demand a recount.
