Over one million people have signed an online campaign, launched by the change.org website, demanding the ouster of Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) over a series of problems and errors allegedly committed by election officials during advance voting yesterday (Sunday).
The alleged errors and problems range from the writing of incorrect zip codes on 148 envelopes containing marked ballot sheets in Pak Kret district of Nonthaburi province, and an allegation that some election officials in Amnat Charoen and Ubon Ratchathani provinces provided free transport to takeelderly voters to polling stations, to an allegation that an election official, based at a temple in Khlong 6 in Pathum Thani province, marked a ballot sheet on behalf of a blind voter.
According to the EC, a total of 592 complaints, related to advance voting, have been received, with Bangkok recording about 100. All the complaints are now being checked by election officials, to identify those which are substantiated for further investigation, said the EC.
Regarding the allegation that an election official marked a ballot sheet on behalf of a blind voter, the EC has issued a statement saying that it had already distributed manuals, three copies each, to election office in 77 provinces, including Bangkok, giving instructions on how to assist blind voters.
By about 10am today, the number of people who had signedthe online campaign to demand the ouster of the Election Commission had reportedly soared to 1,054,236. A hashtag asking what is the point of having the EC and another calling for the imprisonment of all the seven election commissioners are top trending on social media.
Meanwhile, self-styled whistle blower Chuwit Kamolvisit posted a video clip of a problem in Ubon Ratchathani, regarding the Move Forward party candidate.
He claimed that election officials had put the ballot sheets for Constituencies 1, 2 and 3 into the same ballot box, instead of separating them, meaning that voters who voted for the Move Forward candidate in Constituency 1 could not check the ballot sheets.
