Thailand’s top legal expert, former deputy prime minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, says that the coded ballot sheets used in the February 8 general election may have been a violation of the Constitution and may lead to the nullification of the election.
In his lecture, delivered to Class 14 of high-level administrators at the National Institute of Development Administration on Wednesday, Wissanu said, in his personal opinion (which may be wrong), that he believes the voting was not secret because it could be traced back to the voters, identifying for whom and which parties they voted.
According to Section 85 of the Constitution, which states that voting must be direct and secret, he said that being secret, in the legal context, means that it must remain secret permanently or eternally.
He said that the use of bar and QR codes on the ballot sheets is different from the 2006 election, which was nullified, and a new election was held after it was discovered that, in some polling stations, the ballot boxes were positioned in a way that passers-by could see voters in the act of casting their ballots.
If a case were brought before the Constitutional Court and it could be proved that the bar or QR codes on the ballot sheets could be traced back to individual voters, Wissanu said that it would mean the voting is no longer secret, and a new election must be held in all 400 constituencies.
He admitted, however, that he cannot predict how the Constitutional Court would decide on this matter, adding that he cannot say for sure whether all the election commissioners would be held accountable and end up in prison.
He warned, though, that the coded ballot sheets are not the only contentious issue dividing people in Thai society. There are several divisive issues, whether constitutional amendments or the distribution of cabinet seats, which tend to widen the conflict.
Meanwhile, the People’s party announced today that it plans to file charges of malfeasance in office, in accordance with Section 157 of the Criminal Code, against the Election Commission next week over the use of coded ballot sheets in the election.
Parit Wacharasindhu, the party’s spokesman, explained that the planned lawsuit against the EC does not mean the party refuses to accept its election defeat, but rather is intended to defend the rights of the people.
