EC to go ahead with Senate poll despite charter court pending review
Commissioners voted unanimously to hold district-level voting on Sunday, as they believe it is within the purview of law
The Election Commission (EC) has decided not to postpone the upcoming senatorial election and will proceed with district-level voting on Sunday. This decision was made despite the Constitutional Court’s resolution to accept a petition asking for it to examine if candidates voting among themselves violates the charter.
EC chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong said on Friday that the commissioners had unanimously decided to go ahead with the election as there was no compelling reason to postpone it. However, he said, if the Constitutional Court rules that the voting system is contradictory or in conflict with the Constitution, then the EC will comply accordingly.
“I’m not worried if someone files a petition demanding the election be nullified, because the EC has been conducting its duties up to this point in accordance with the law as stipulated. I confirm that the EC has not acted contrary to what the law mandates,” Ittiporn confirmed.
On Wednesday, the court accepted two petitions sent by the Central Administrative Court for an interpretation on whether Articles 36, 40, 41 and 42 of the organic law on elections violated Article 107 of the Constitution, which specifies how senators can be allotted their position.
The petitions filed by six senatorial candidates question whether the fact that candidates can vote among themselves will prevent political interference and if a clause in Article 36 allowing candidates to seek help from others to introduce themselves would create an uneven playing field.
Earlier reports on Thursday indicated that the EC had assessed the situation and would present several options. One of these involved the EC exercising its authority to announce the postponement of the district-level voting slated for June 9 (Sunday) pending a clear ruling from the charter court.
Should the EC adhere to the original roadmap and the Constitutional Court rules that Senate candidates voting solely for themselves with more than one vote violates the Constitution, then candidates will start filing appeals to the EC, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Administrative Court. This scenario might lead to the election being nullified and the EC potentially being sued for damages as shown in previous cases.
