Phayao: The Election Commission has issued a warning regarding severe penalties for actions such as photographing ballot papers, intentionally invalidating ballots, and not complying with election officials' instructions during the by-election for Members of Parliament at polling station 6, Constituency 1, Phayao.
According to Thai News Agency, the Election Commission Office has reminded eligible voters about the prohibitions and associated penalties for the new constituency and party-list parliamentary elections at polling station 6, Village 4, located at the Ban Sala School cafeteria, Tha Wang Thong Subdistrict, Mueang Phayao District, Phayao Province, Constituency 1. The election is set to take place today from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The Commission emphasized that anyone resisting, obstructing, or failing to comply with polling station committee members' orders-who are officials under the Criminal Code-could face charges under Section 138, which include imprisonment for up to 1 year or a fine up to 20,000 baht, or both. If the resistance involves force or threats, the penalties increase to imprisonment of up to 2 years or a fine up to 40,000 baht, or both.
The Commission has also prohibited voters from using any tool or device to photograph their marked ballots or showing their marked ballot to others. Violators could face imprisonment for up to one year, a fine up to 20,000 baht, or both. Additionally, voters must use only the ballot provided by the authorized election official and are not allowed to take the ballot outside the polling station or mark any identifying mark on it. Violators of this rule face imprisonment of 1 to 5 years, fines ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 baht, or both, with a court-ordered revocation of their voting rights for 10 years.
Furthermore, anyone found intentionally damaging, destroying, or invalidating a ballot, or altering an invalid ballot to make it valid, will be punished with imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine up to 100,000 baht. The court will also revoke their right to vote for 10 years.