Bangkok: A new generation of senators has identified irregularities in the recent election and is urging the Election Commission to release the list of voters nationwide. They raised concerns about the declining voter turnout and called for an investigation into suspicious voting patterns, specifically for party-list candidates ranked 1-5.
According to Thai News Agency, Senator Nanthana Nanthavaropas issued a statement demanding an explanation from the Election Commission regarding the election's flawed management process. She pointed out that the 65% voter turnout represents a 10% decrease, translating to over 5 million fewer votes compared to the 2023 election. Ms. Nanthana emphasized the need for clarity on the reasons behind this decline, questioning whether it stemmed from errors in the voter counting process.
Ms. Nanthana further highlighted the issue of vote buying, which remains undetected by the Election Commission but is a topic of widespread discussion nationwide. She noted the lack of transparency in the vote counting process, citing instances where polling stations prohibited video recording and reported numerous discrepancies in ballot counting, such as in District 7, Pathum Thani, and District 1, Chonburi. The election also saw over 3 million invalid ballots and delays in the counting process. Ms. Nanthana called for the Election Commission to address these issues and propose solutions.
"The Election Commission must recount the problematic votes by reopening the ballot boxes. All seven commissioners have the authority to order this to ensure transparency and clarity. We also want the names of all voters nationwide to be disclosed; there are 5 million missing names from the previous election," Ms. Nanthana stated.
Meanwhile, Senator Tewarit Maneechai urged the Election Commission to investigate suspicious voting patterns for candidates ranked 1-5 on the party-list system. He suggested the possibility of a selective voting system targeting specific constituencies and encouraged voters to remember the candidate's number, which could align with those in other parties' party-lists.
"From our investigation, in some areas, candidates number 1-5 received hundreds or thousands of votes for their constituency MPs, but hundreds of thousands on the party-list system. For example, Constituency 3 in Chaiyaphum (candidate number 1), Constituency 4 in Kanchanaburi, Constituencies 5 and 10 in Chiang Mai, Constituency 1 in Phetchabun, and Constituency 8 in Nakhon Ratchasima, where the constituency MPs voted for one party and the party-list candidates for another, even though they had the same candidate number. Therefore, I urge the Election Commission to investigate what happened or what influenced this voting pattern," Mr. Tewarit said.