Photos by Ginger Cat

A protest took place on Sunday (15 February) at the Pathumwan Skywalk in Bangkok over transparency issues in the 8 February election, including the use of barcodes on ballot papers, which raised concerns that voter confidentiality may have been compromised.

The protest was called by a network of students from 9 universities, who also conducted a mock referendum on whether the Election Commissioners should be removed from office over these issues. 445 people voted yes, while 2 voted no.

The network issued a statement saying that the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) should take responsibility for irregularities that occurred during the vote counting process in several constituencies, such as in Chonburi’s Constituency 1, where voters noted serious issues such as documents being found in the trash after the election and ballot boxes not being properly sealed. Meanwhile, concerns have been raised about the use of barcodes on ballot papers, which may be unconstitutional as Section 85 of the Constitution requires voting to be done in secret.

The statement notes that a nationwide vote recount may not be enough due to concerns of misconduct or electoral fraud. The ECT will have to take responsibility, says the statement, noting that people should put pressure on the ECT as the 2017 Constitution currently does not allow citizens to petition for the dismissal of independent body members.

A Thammasat University student who was part of the network said that he wanted an explanation from the ECT about the ballot papers, and if the barcodes are unconstitutional, the ECT should face legal consequences. He said that the ECT has got away with mistakes and pinned the blame on others. He noted that he has spoken to polling officials who told him that sometimes they made mistakes, partly because they had not been properly informed by the ECT. Polling officials said they received only one day of training, and sometimes they were not given a manual, which the student said shows a management failure.

The student insisted that the network wants the Election Commissioners dismissed from office after all issues have been cleared up. He also said that he does not care about the result of the election as much as he does transparency, and that the election has to be fair and transparent for the result to be trusted.