Bangkok polling goes smoothly, all ink colours acceptable: city clerk

Speaking to reporters at the Bangkok Metropolitan Hall 2 in Din Daeng district, Khajit said apart from three violations on Sunday morning, voting continued smoothly for the rest of the day.

He said special channels were also created for the 17 Covid-19 patients who came out to cast their vote.

Earlier in the day, two Bangkokians were caught tearing up their ballots and one was reprimanded for crumpling his ballot paper.

Khajit added voters who failed to exercise their right have until May 29 to explain why to their district registrars and their rights will be preserved if their reason is justified. They can also register the reason for missing their vote via www.bora.dopa.go.th and www.ect.go.th or through the Smart Vote app.

He added that voters who used their own pen to mark their ballot do not have to worry about their votes being discarded if the ink is the wrong colour. He said if the ballot is marked clearly, it will be considered valid no matter what colour the ink is.

Earlier, Election Commission chairman Itthiporn Boonprakong had said only blue ink can be used otherwise ballots will be considered invalid.

Khajit said the EC chairman later issued a memo telling all election officials that the ink colour does not matter as long as voters mark a clear “X” on their ballot paper.