Election Commission explains five advance voting glitches, promises fixes

Sawang Boonmee, secretary-general of the Election Commission (EC), gave an overview after the advance voting on Sunday (February 1), saying the process was orderly overall, but noting several incidents that he wanted to clarify to ensure public understanding.

Missing candidate introduction leaflets at some polling units

In some polling units in certain provinces, candidate introduction leaflets for some political parties were not available at the polling stations. After checks, the EC found this occurred at only two locations nationwide: Chon Buri and Chiang Rai. 

The issue originated from Lampang, where the document sets were incorrectly dispatched. The set sent to Chon Buri had a duplicate number 6, with number 8 missing, while in Chiang Rai the candidate introduction sheet numbered 8 was placed in a different constituency.

Problem with a QR code for MP candidate information

Regarding a QR code created by Bangkok to provide candidate information to voters, a problem was found in Bang Bon, where the QR code linked to candidate information from 2023. Sawang apologised for the mistake. 

As for claims that an EC official called to threaten someone, he said he believed it was unlikely to be an EC staff member, as officials are trained to serve the public and, given that this was the EC’s own shortcoming, they should apologise rather than intimidate anyone. 

However, he said he would look into the matter again.

Election district code written incorrectly on ballot envelopes

On reports that officials wrote the election district code incorrectly on the front of ballot envelopes, Sawang explained that within a single constituency there can be multiple districts, and each district may have different postal codes—while some constituencies may share postal codes (for example, between Samut Prakan and Bangkok). 

Therefore, Thailand Post, as the delivery operator, set a specific election district code to ensure delivery to all 400 constituencies accurately.

After polls close, the presiding officer in each constituency will verify the number of voters against the number of ballots in the ballot box, including checks on these codes. Sawang said that even if the election district code is not filled in, the envelopes can still be delivered, because the system design allows cross-checking.

He added that advance ballots will be sorted on February 3 at 2.00pm. For overseas ballots, envelopes have been gradually arriving back in Thailand, with the latest expected by February 5. They will be sorted by February 6, and dispatched on February 6–7 so they reach polling stations in time to be counted together on February 8.

Voter forgot to insert a constituency ballot into the envelope

In Nakhon Pathom, a voter left a constituency ballot at the polling station and did not place it in the envelope. Polling officials recorded the incident in the daily log and attached the ballot to the record as evidence.

Ballot torn and a stub attached to the voter’s materials

In Nonthaburi, an official tore a ballot and mistakenly attached the stub to the voter’s materials as well. The ballot in question will be sent to its destination constituency in Surat Thani. 

Coordination has been made with Surat Thani so that, before counting, officials will separate the stub before counting the ballot as a vote.

“The mistakes that occurred today will not affect the election on February 8, because on February 8 there will be no use of election district codes or QR codes, including matters relating to election observation by representatives and members of the public at polling stations located within military areas. We will take what happened today to improve our operations for February 8,” Sawang said.

He also provided an update on a case in Surat Thani, where the provincial EC director and police surrounded a house after a whistleblower reported that it was being used by a vote canvasser for an MP candidate from a political party to facilitate vote buying, with a video clip cited as evidence. 

Sawang said officials sought permission to inspect the house, but the owner refused, prompting them to seek a court warrant to search the premises. The house remains surrounded, pending whether the court approves the warrant. 

He said this case is considered preparation for vote buying and is an offence.

Asked about the nature of the alleged vote buying in Surat Thani and whether similar offences had been found elsewhere, Sawang said officials had requested to view a mobile phone and already had information, but would not disclose details until a court order is obtained. 

He said there are currently 77 complaints involving defamation and smear tactics, and seven cases involving vote buying and vote selling.