Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday accepted for consideration a petition
challenging the legality of election ballots used in last month’s polls.
The Election Commission has been given 15 days to provide clarification, the court said in a statement. It did not specify any other orders, meaning Thursday’s planned vote by the new parliament on a prime minister would go ahead.
The complaints alleged that barcodes and QR codes on the ballots could potentially be used to identify which candidate and party a voter had chosen, undermining the secrecy of the ballot, according to the Office of the Ombudsman, which filed the petition.
The Election Commission has said the barcodes were included for security purposes and that identifying a voter would require access to the upper half of the ballots, which had been securely stored.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul‘s Bhumjaithai Party had a decisive win in February’s election and he plans to form a coalition government that would control 290 of the 499 seats currently occupied in the new parliament.
But if the court rules that the bar codes and QR codes compromised secrecy of the ballot, then it could lead to the Feb 18 elections being annulled. A new election would then have to be held which could cost over $200 million.
The Election Commission has insisted that voter secrecy has not been compromised as the barcodes “do not interfere with the secrecy or direct nature of voting as prescribed by the constitution.”
The EC also warned those spreading misinformation that they could face legal consequences under the Computer Crime Act. The EC clarified that the voting process for this election remains “direct and secret,” as stipulated in the constitution.
Voters must cast their votes in private, in the voting booth, and personally deposit their ballots. Voters are prohibited from revealing or photographing their marked ballots to ensure the secrecy and independence of the vote.
The use of barcodes is intended to provide an additional measure to safeguard the election process, ensuring that no one can trace or verify how a vote was cast.
(With inputs from Reuters)
