Thailand’s Election Commission of Thailand has ordered ballot recounts at eight polling stations across the country, including one in Bangkok, and mandated a new vote at a station in Phayao province, amid mounting scrutiny of the February 8 general election.
In a statement released late Tuesday, the commission said a recount of constitutional referendum ballots would take place at polling station No.10 in the Kannayao sub-district of Bangkok’s Kannayao district. The process is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday, February 22, at the polling site.
The EC also approved recounts of party-list ballots at seven polling stations in four provinces. These include two stations in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Sam Roi Yot district, two in Phetchabun, two in Kamphaeng Phet, and one in Sakon Nakhon’s Muang district.
Separately, the commission ordered a fresh election for both constituency and party-list ballots at polling station No.6 in Tha Wang Thong sub-district, Muang district of Phayao. Details on the timing and venues for the recounts and the revote will be announced later, the EC said.
The decision follows an earlier resolution to hold new voting at three other polling stations in Bangkok, Nan, and Udon Thani provinces. Thailand held voting at 99,487 polling stations nationwide during the February 8 election.
Complaints Surge
The EC has come under heavy pressure since polling day, facing a surge of complaints from voters and political parties over alleged irregularities. Several legal actions are already under way seeking to nullify the election results and trigger a nationwide revote.
Reported problems span thousands of polling stations and include mishandled ballots and ballot boxes, discrepancies in vote tallies, inconsistencies in online reporting, and alleged misconduct by election officials.
One major issue delaying certification of the results is a mismatch between the number of ballots cast and the number of voters recorded at numerous polling stations.
Although unofficial results were released shortly after voting, the count has remained stuck at 94%, below the 95% threshold required for formal endorsement.
Data published on the EC’s unofficial results website show a nationwide gap of more than 66,000 ballots between constituency votes and party-list votes.
Under Thailand’s electoral system, each voter receives both ballots simultaneously, raising questions over how such a discrepancy emerged.
The commission has also faced criticism over the use of serial numbers, barcodes, and QR codes on ballot papers. Critics argue the practice violates constitutional provisions requiring votes to be secret and impossible to trace to individual voters.
Acknowledging the backlash, the EC conceded that the codes could, in theory, be used to trace ballots, though it said doing so would require significant effort.
The commission insisted the information would not be used for that purpose and said strict safeguards were in place to keep voter data confidential.
