The vote62 working group summed up the results of the election monitoring campaign. Ready to propose a request for the Election Commission to summarize lessons learned and transparently disclose election information to solve future problems and organize the next election
On May 20, 2023, the office of iLaw released a summary of the results of the ’66 Election ’66 by vote62, a collaboration between iLaw, Rocket Media Lab, Opendream and many other partner organizations including We. Watch Talu Fah, ActLab, Volunteer Social Foundation (MOS), People’s Network Observing the 2023 Election, etc., who joined forces to find volunteers to keep an eye on and report the vote counting results in this election. Through photographs of the counted ballots at each polling place. Uploaded to the website vote62. After working for this campaign for over 6 months, more than 39,000 volunteers from all over the country participated. The country has a total of 95,249 polling stations.
In addition, when reporting the results through the display system on the website vote62.com, it was found that a large number of people came to view the information and election results. And by reporting the results from over 39,000 volunteers across the country, vote62 has more votes that have come in since the box was closed than any other platform. Including the Election Commission’s own reporting system and completed 400 districts before other platforms and the Election Commission of Thailand before the results reported were equal to the Election Commission in the range of 7.1 million points.
However, from keeping an eye on problems and irregularities in the election on May 7, which is the day of advance elections. There were 547 volunteers reporting information from 58 provinces across the country. The most commonly reported problem is the misplacement of the constituency code on the front of the envelope from the actual constituency. unspecified area number
As for Election Day, May 14, 2023, there were 1,075 complaints from 74 provinces across the country. The problem that was reported the most was wrong score merging in 285 cases, which found that when there was an objection, the officers had to correct 132 cases and the officers did not fix 153 cases. Both the vote counting process and the completed ballot boards were reported continuously despite this issue being communicated and confirmed by the Election Commission itself, reflecting both the efficiency of election management and the lack of understanding. In the election management system of officials and participation, keep an eye on the elections of the people.
From now on, vote62 will open information on district-by-county scores reported by volunteers across the country and by unit. In addition, we will continue to communicate and organize activities with more than 40,000 participating volunteers in order to create a democratic eye culture by the people in the future.
Proposals to the Election Commission for the future
Immediate-time offer
1. In the current situation, the Election Commission should speed up the official certification of election results as soon as possible. Even in Regulation 215, the Election Commission will give time. 60 days, but if the Election Commission has verified that the election In any area where there is no suspicion of corruption, it should be announced on Monday, May 22, 2023, so that the formation of the new government can go forward without leaving room for negotiation. to change the tendency of forming a government to be different from what the people voted for
2. For constituencies where there are complaints that the total number of votes does not match the number of voters, the fourth paragraph of Regulation No. 177 and No. 223 empowers the ECT to Able to order “recounting points” and should order as soon as possible When there is a controversy about the vote counting and the reporting of the results order to count The new score should be a foundational culture that fosters participation and transparency. It’s not an increase in burden and it’s not a loss of face for the Election Commission.
3. For questionable constituencies If there are complaints, the Election Commission should investigate and clarify to the public as soon as possible, for example, in the case of adding votes, some candidates have a rapid increase in their scores, in the event that the data displayed from the ECTReport system looks like a “toe card”, that is, the score. of all candidates combined more than the number of people who exercised their rights and stopped the behavior of “head bowing” people who commented that Instead, it uses a clear explanation of the facts from those involved.
Recommendations for holding the next election
1. The ECT should systematically and regularly disclose necessary information, such as the locations of polling stations across the country. Information on the number of people who voted in advance in each area Candidate Information campaign expenses information Information on complaints and results of consideration, etc., which will make it easier for people to inspect and support election management. and more widespread participation
2. The Election Commission of Thailand should provide knowledge and provide training to unit committee members (MWA) to understand the system. More overall election management To have knowledge of all relevant procedures and documents. To understand and respect people who want to participate in observing the vote counting. Open to the public to inspect, inquire, take pictures, shoot videos fully. Including reducing unnecessary steps to reduce the burden and increase the efficiency of the MWA.
3. The Election Commission should take lessons from the vote reporting system in 2023 and develop a better system. By allowing the public to participate in designing laws, regulations and developing technology. For faster, more accurate and transparent score reporting
