Due to concerns about vote manipulation, senate candidates have called on the Election Commission (EC) to suspend the Senate election results and thoroughly review the qualifications of the newly elected senators.

Groups of senate candidates and members of the general public on Monday (1 July) filed complaints with the EC, demanding that it investigate and invalidate some of the newly elected Senators whom they allege colluded in vote rigging during the Senate election. They also called upon the EC to refrain from officially endorsing the newly selected senate until the probe is completed, according to several news outlets.

Khamrop Panyakaew, a candidate in the legal professional group, submitted evidence to the EC, requesting that it investigate approximately 111 elected senators and recount the votes. He accused some groups of candidates of attempting to manipulate the election results and emphasised that he would file a complaint against the EC with the Supreme Court in case it fails to take appropriate action.

Another group of senate candidates, led by Chakkrapong Kongpanya, also urged the EC to suspend the endorsement of the newly elected Senators. He stated that anomalies were found in the voting process suggesting that at least several candidates colluded to cast votes in a fraudulent manner. The senate candidate also alleged that vote buying and spreading false information were employed in this election.

Chakkrapong said if vote rigging is detected, the EC should nullify this election and hold a re-election, implementing austerity measures to prevent vote manipulation.

On the same day, Chaturan Boonbenjarat, Secretary-General of the Clean Politics group, filed a petition with the Supreme Administrative Court, requesting that it suspend the endorsement of the 200 elected Senators, pending the investigation. The Secretary-General also accused the EC of negligence in verifying the candidates’ qualifications. He clarified that it is not his intention to nullify the election results, however.

The EC is expected to officially announce the election results on Wednesday (3 July).

Thailand’s Senate election is considered the most complicated in the world. Many critics argued that the election system and the method for selecting new senators are impractical. Several senate candidates who did not advance to the national final round reported electoral irregularities such as secret deals, vote buying, and collusion.

Previously, Sawang Boonmee, the EC’s Secretary-General, stated at the press conference on 27 June that the EC received over 600 complaints about the senate election. These complaints included the candidates’ qualifications and vote rigging.