ECT rejects Chon Buri vote recount request, cites lack of corruption evidence
The Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) formally rejected a request for a vote recount in Chon Buri’s District 1, stating there was no concrete evidence to support allegations of corruption.
On February 9, a group of voters gathered at a badminton court in Chon Buri province, which had been used to store ballots from the District 1 polling station, after suspecting irregularities in the vote counting process.
Protesters claimed several ballot boxes were about to be transferred without being securely fastened with cable ties as required by ECT regulations. They also alleged that some boxes lacked the official signature of the polling station director before being moved.
In addition, the group said they discovered a vote tally document in a rubbish bin that showed a different election winner from the one officially announced. They demanded an immediate recount.
However, polling station officials declined the request and urged protesters to wait for a formal decision from the ECT following an official review.
At a press conference yesterday, February 12, ECT President Narong Klanwarin, alongside other commission officials, announced the outcome of the investigation into the Chon Buri District 1 dispute.
Narong said he sought to ensure fairness for both election officers and protesters by assigning Deputy Secretary-General Kanchit Charoen-in to conduct a detailed inquiry into the allegations.
Kanchit explained that only 10 protesters formally submitted complaints. These were grouped into three main issues: a power outage at the polling station, delays in vote counting, and alleged miscounting of votes.
According to Kanchit, the power outage did occur, but only after all votes had been counted. Regarding the alleged delay, he said polling stations in the area completed and submitted their results at roughly the same time, indicating no unusual delay.
As for claims of incorrect counting, Kanchit noted there were no immediate objections raised during the vote counts across 160 polling stations, and no discrepancies were detected at the time.
Addressing the cable tie controversy, he clarified that the badminton court was not an official polling station but a temporary storage and consolidation point for ballots. Some cable ties were cut because ballots were moved into fewer boxes for easier transport. Spare and previously used cable ties were also found at the site.
He further stated that the venue did not have a rubbish bin, and the disputed vote tally sheet was placed among discarded paperwork awaiting disposal.
Following the review, the ECT concluded that no credible evidence of election fraud were found. Therefore, no recount or re-election would be held in Chon Buri District 1.
At the end of the press conference, Narong said…
“We can confirm that the ECT will not risk our honour and reputation with something like this, and we don’t need to. We can confirm that we examined the fairness of the vote counting as well as the aggregation of the results according to the complaints.”
Last night, ECT officials proceeded to transfer the ballots for further administrative processing. Some protesters were seen in tears and expressed disappointment, but they ultimately accepted the legal decision and dispersed from the site.
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