The Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) has refused to recount the vote in Chonburi’s Constituency 1, where a protest has been going on for three straight days demanding a recount after voters reported abnormal conduct during the voting process.

Protesters gathering at the Chonburi Municipality badminton court to demand a vote recount. Over the several days of the protest, they took turn guarding the ballot boxes to prevent them from being moved. (Photo from We Watch)

Beginning on Monday night (9 February), protesters gathered at the Chonburi Municipality badminton court, where ballot boxes from Chonburi’s Constituency 1 are being kept, to demand a recount. ThaiPBS reported that ahead of the protest, a group of students and local residents filed a complaint with the local ECT office about several abnormalities that raised concerns about misconduct and fraud. They said that officials at several polling stations continued to count votes despite a power outage, raising concerns as observers could no longer see the ballots. In others, the reported number of ballots used did not match the number of voters.

The legal watchdog iLaw also reported that at around 16.00 on Monday, some local Facebook pages posted that the ballots were going to be recounted, but when residents went to the location of the supposed recount, they were told that there is no recount. They then tried to track down the ballot boxes and found that they had been taken to the Chonburi Municipality badminton court. A few hundred protesters then gathered there to demand a recount. There, they also found that the ballot boxes were not sealed according to regulations; they were sealed with tape instead of the required signed cable ties. Protesters also found ballot count sheets left out of the boxes and reportedly in a pile of trash, as well as other equipment, such as already-cut signed cable ties and an electoral roll that all voters must sign before voting.

Protesters were told by the local Chief District Officer and ECT representatives that only the Election Commissioners in Bangkok can decide whether to call a recount. They decided to camp out at the badminton court and take turns guarding the ballot boxes to prevent them from being moved and tampered with.

On Tuesday (10 February), the ECT said during a press conference that it had given the Chonburi ECT office two days to find evidence before it makes a decision. Meanwhile, People’s Party MP candidate Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn filed a police complaint against the Chonburi ECT office, the chief polling official of Constituency 1’s polling station 15, and the 7 Election Commissioners for malfeasance.

On Thursday (12 February), ECT Chair Narong Klanwarin and Secretary-General Sawaeng Boonmee held a press conference announcing that the ECT will not call a recount in Chonburi’s Constituency 1, claiming insufficient evidence of misconduct or fraud.

The ballot boxes were moved on Thursday night (12 February) to be delivered to the Chonburi ECT office. The Reporters reported at around midnight that the protesters wanted to escalate from demanding a recount to demanding a new election.

After the ballot boxes were moved, the protesters announced that they were dispersing, but only after they had obtained a copy of the CCTV footage from the badminton court. Several news outlets reported that the footage from Monday night (9 February), when the ballot boxes were first moved into the badminton court, is missing.

Nutchapakorn Nammueng of iLaw told The Reporters that lawyers are preparing to file a complaint with the Technology Crime Suppression Division about the missing footage. He said that technicians told the protesters that the camera batteries ran out of and were not connected to the internet, so they were reset to the original setting, but he does not think that this is the reason the footage file is missing.

Call for recount intensifies

Protesters at the government complex on 12 February filing a petition with ECT representatives. (Photo by Ginger Cat)

The Chonburi protest is one of several protests that took place over the week following the election as the ECT faces backlash over transparency issues and suspicions of fraud. Protests took place in Pathum Thani, Maha Sarakham, Ubon Ratchathani, Chanthaburi, Lampang, Suphanburi, and two other constituencies in Chonburi calling for vote recounts in some constituencies due to reported abnormalities in the vote counting process.

Meanwhile, in Bangkok, the student activist group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration called a protest in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) on Tuesday night (10 February) demanding a nationwide recount. On Thursday (12 February), protesters gathered at the ECT for most of the day.

Another protest took place on Saturday (14 February) in front of the BACC, while another has already been called for Sunday (15 February).

iLaw reported that the ECT has also refused to call a recount in Maha Sarakham’s Constituency 1 despite several days of continuous protest, claiming that there is insufficient evidence of misconduct. However, it called for a recount of out-of-constituency and overseas votes in Pathum Thani’s Constituency 1, ruling that the first was not done openly while the second was not in line with regulations.

Several constituencies will also have to vote again. In Bangkok’s Khan Na Yao District, the ECT ordered a revote at Polling Station 9 for both the election and the referendum because the ballots were damaged by a rainstorm on the night of 8 February, so the vote count could not be completed. In Nan’s Constituency 1, the ECT called a constituency MP revote at one polling station because a polling official tore ballots from the stubs on the wrong line. A revote is called at a polling station in Udon Thani’s Constituency 6 for the same reason.

People’s Party MP candidates in at least 18 constituencies have filed a request for a recount, according to the Party’s Facebook page.

Thairath Online reported that Bhumjaithai’s Phattrapong Phattraprasit, the MP-elect for Phichit’s Constituency 1, has filed a request for a recount because the total number of votes was higher than the number of voters who came to the polls and he wanted to clear up any suspicion.

Meanwhile, the Pheu Thai Party issued a statement on 10 February saying that it has set up a complaint centre for leads on election fraud. Party leader Julapun Amornvivat said that the party has received complaints from voters and MP candidates and that it is concerned about the impact on people’s trust in democracy. The party calls on the ECT to investigate unusual spending in several constituencies, as well as the report by the Governor of the Bank of Thailand of an unusual cash withdrawal.

It also called on the ECT to investigate interference by state officials, such as village heads or police and military officers, in the voting process.

The party noted abnormalities reported on election day, such as lack of transparency during vote counting, polling officials making mistakes when tearing ballot papers from stubs, their judgement on the validity of ballots, and discrepancies between the number of votes and voters. It demands that the ECT conduct a transparent investigation into these issues, and to respond to the demand for a recount which it believes would reduce tension.

Meanwhile, the Prachachat Party issued a statement calling for an investigation because it has received several complaints of misconduct. It alleged that its canvassers were threatened, while attempts have been made to convince citizens not to vote for the Party. State officials had reportedly been aiding specific parties, while abnormalities were reported during the vote counting process.