Thailand’s Constitutional Court Dismisses Petition Seeking Annulment of General Election

Por Sebastian Strangio — The Diplomat

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The petition concerned the use of barcodes and QR codes on ballot papers, which some claimed could breach constitutional requirements for secret voting.

Thailand’s Constitutional Court yesterday dismissed a petition challenging the legality of the last general election, ​ruling that the ballot papers used did not undermine the confidentiality of the vote.

The ruling came in response to 22 complaints about the use of barcodes and QR codes on ballot papers in the February 8 election, which some claimed could breach constitutional requirements for secret voting, the Bangkok Post reported.

Nearly 38 ‌million Thais voted in the election, which was won decisively by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s Bhumjaithai Party. Bhumjaithai emerged from the polls with 192 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives, and later formed a coalition government with a host of other parties, including the once-powerful Pheu Thai party (74 seats). The opposition People’s Party won 120 seats.

However, in the aftermath of the election, a host of complaints were submitted to the Election Commission (EC) for its adjudication, including complaints of alleged vote-buying, uncounted ballots, and other irregularities. While these were dismissed, it took the complaints about the use of barcodes and QR codes on ballots, which were ostensibly intended to counter fraud, more seriously.

In March, the Office of the Ombudsman ruled that there were sufficient grounds to question whether the EC and its leadership had acted in a way that contravened constitutional protections about voter confidentiality. If the Constitutional Court ruled that that the secrecy of the vote was compromised by the use of barcodes and QR codes, it had the power to annul the result of the election.

However, in its ruling yesterday, the Bangkok Post reported, the Constitutional Court said that that barcode and QR codes were “applied to prevent use of fake ballot papers and their cross-constituency use, and to control the number and printing of ballots.”

While the ballots contained information that could potentially be used to identify voters’ decisions, this information was only accessible if any outside party had access to used ballots, ballot stubs, and the lists of voters’ names – and then used mobile phones to scan the codes on all the documents. The fact that all three of these things were stored separately and were “sufficiently safe” from outside access, offered sufficient protection of the secrecy of the ballot, the Constitutional Court ruled.

Although the charter court endorsed the legality of coded ballots, it advised the EC not to use any codes that connected to the results in future.

The ruling averts ​this costly possibility of a new election – the Bangkok Post estimated that this would cost the Thai state upwards of 7 billion baht ($216 million) – and will no doubt come as a welcome relief for Anutin’s coalition government, especially given the Constitutional Court’s history of brash interventions in Thai politics.

Anutin has seen his approval ratings fall in recent months, due to rising living costs and political scandals involving corruption and the alleged rigging of the 2024 Senate election .

In a poll released on Sunday by the National Institute of Development Administration, only 13.8 percent of respondents chose Anutin as their preferred prime minister, down from 21.7 percent in June. Bhumjaithai’s rating declined from 17 percent to 12.1 percent over the same period, behind the People’s Party and the Pheu Thai Party.

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Thailand’s Constitutional Court yesterday dismissed a petition challenging the legality of the last general election, ​ruling that the ballot papers used did not undermine the confidentiality of the vote.

The ruling came in response to 22 complaints about the use of barcodes and QR codes on ballot papers in the February 8 election, which some claimed could breach constitutional requirements for secret voting, the Bangkok Post reported.

Nearly 38 ‌million Thais voted in the election, which was won decisively by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s Bhumjaithai Party. Bhumjaithai emerged from the polls with 192 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives, and later formed a coalition government with a host of other parties, including the once-powerful Pheu Thai party (74 seats). The opposition People’s Party won 120 seats.

However, in the aftermath of the election, a host of complaints were submitted to the Election Commission (EC) for its adjudication, including complaints of alleged vote-buying, uncounted ballots, and other irregularities. While these were dismissed, it took the complaints about the use of barcodes and QR codes on ballots, which were ostensibly intended to counter fraud, more seriously.

In March, the Office of the Ombudsman ruled that there were sufficient grounds to question whether the EC and its leadership had acted in a way that contravened constitutional protections about voter confidentiality. If the Constitutional Court ruled that that the secrecy of the vote was compromised by the use of barcodes and QR codes, it had the power to annul the result of the election.

However, in its ruling yesterday, the Bangkok Post reported, the Constitutional Court said that that barcode and QR codes were “applied to prevent use of fake ballot papers and their cross-constituency use, and to control the number and printing of ballots.”

While the ballots contained information that could potentially be used to identify voters’ decisions, this information was only accessible if any outside party had access to used ballots, ballot stubs, and the lists of voters’ names – and then used mobile phones to scan the codes on all the documents. The fact that all three of these things were stored separately and were “sufficiently safe” from outside access, offered sufficient protection of the secrecy of the ballot, the Constitutional Court ruled.

Although the charter court endorsed the legality of coded ballots, it advised the EC not to use any codes that connected to the results in future.

The ruling averts ​this costly possibility of a new election – the Bangkok Post estimated that this would cost the Thai state upwards of 7 billion baht ($216 million) – and will no doubt come as a welcome relief for Anutin’s coalition government, especially given the Constitutional Court’s history of brash interventions in Thai politics.

Anutin has seen his approval ratings fall in recent months, due to rising living costs and political scandals involving corruption and the alleged rigging of the 2024 Senate election .

In a poll released on Sunday by the National Institute of Development Administration, only 13.8 percent of respondents chose Anutin as their preferred prime minister, down from 21.7 percent in June. Bhumjaithai’s rating declined from 17 percent to 12.1 percent over the same period, behind the People’s Party and the Pheu Thai Party.

Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat. 

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Fonte: The Diplomat