The Election Commission (EC) has dismissed about 20 cases of alleged election irregularities due to insufficient evidence, said EC deputy secretary-general Sawaeng Boonmee today.
However, speaking at a press conference after the EC’s meeting, he said the EC has ordered a recount of votes in 236 election units of Constituency 1 of Nakhon Pathom province and the early votes of voters who live outside the province, as well as overseas early votes from nine polling units.
The EC deputy secretary-general also said that the EC decided to hold a fresh election in Ban Duangdee village, in the southern province of Chumporn, on April 28th after it was proven that the number of voters who cast ballots did not match the number of ballot sheets counted. He said that voters in the village who failed to vote on March 24th will be allowed to vote next Sunday, failing that they will forfeit their voting rights.
Regarding the 1,542 early votes from New Zealand, which were declared null and void by the EC for late arrival, Mr. Sawaeng said that an investigation is still under way to ascertain who should be held accountable.
The EC’s decision to nullify the early votes from New Zealand, despite the fact that they arrived in Bangkok in time but were not sent to their constituencies within the permissible time, has come under heavy criticism especially from the Thai voters in New Zealand.
