So far ten cases of ballot tearing have been reported during the first half of the voting day. The action violated article 59 of the referendum law, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to Bt20,000. Some violators, however, have been found to misunderstand how to vote and to have no intention to instigate unrest or cause disturbance to the referendum.
Boonyakiart added that the EC has instructed officials at the polling station to also explain to voters that the ballot is not to be torn apart.