Bangkok: The atmosphere following the February 8, 2016 election, instead of being filled with hope, was shrouded in suspicion. Associate Professor Dr. Prinya Tevanarumitkul raised crucial questions about the performance of the Election Commission (EC), which seemed to be regressing, drawing comparisons to the 1957 election, widely considered the dirtiest in Thai history.

According to Thai News Agency, Associate Professor Dr. Prinya pointed out several irregularities that occurred, starting with the advance voting process which had a massive number of addressing errors and ballots that never reached their destination or quietly "disappeared" from the system. But the most alarming thing was the drastic drop in voter turnout, from a high of 75% in previous elections to only 65% this time. This means that approximately 5 million votes were lost, which greatly contradicts the current level of public political awareness.

Furthermore, there was the issue of "invalid ballots," which surged to nearly 3 million, or almost 10% of those who voted. This was attributed to instances where officials mistakenly declared valid ballots invalid simply because of minor marks exceeding the designated area, or to attempts to conceal the ballots from the public during counting.

The incident in Chonburi province became the clearest reflection of the crisis of confidence when citizens discovered that ballot boxes were sealed with "straw rope" instead of numbered cable ties. Officials claimed they had run out of supplies. Furthermore, the old tactic of "power outage" during vote counting, a technique used 30 years ago, was revived. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Prinya believes this was not a coincidence but a sign of a lack of transparency.

Associate Professor Dr. Prinya suggested that the Election Commission has full authority under Section 124 of the Constitution on the Election of Members of Parliament to order a recount immediately if there is reasonable suspicion that the counting was incorrect. The fact that thousands of people camped out at ballot boxes to demand a recount, not a new election, is the easiest and quickest way to prove their innocence. If the Election Commission continues to delay or refuse a recount, it will only further reinforce the belief that fraud has occurred.

Structurally, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Prinya believes the current Election Commission lacks connection with the public because its members were selected by the Senate, which is not elected. Therefore, future solutions must focus on "verifiable transparency," such as installing CCTV cameras in all polling stations to ensure open vote counting and reintroducing public participation as observers, as in the past.

However, if the Election Commission cannot answer the public's questions about these irregularities, this election may not just be a defeat for some candidates, but a defeat for the entire Thai democratic system.