Chanchhai Submits Statement to Constitutional Court: Election Commission Admits Barcodes on Ballots Can Trace Voters
A former Democratic Party candidate submitted evidence to Thailand's Constitutional Court challenging whether barcoded ballots violate voting secrecy, claiming the Election Commission admitted the codes can trace individual voters.
On May 20, 2569, at the Constitutional Court office, Chanchhai Isara Sena Rak, former parliamentary candidate from Bangkok Noi of the Democratic Party, submitted a witness statement on behalf of the Ombudsman in a case challenging whether the Election Commission's printing of ballots with QR codes and barcodes violates the constitution's secrecy of voting requirement.
Chanchhai stated that the court requested clarification on five key points, including what actions he witnessed regarding barcode use on election day and how he could prove that barcodes compromise ballot secrecy. He submitted additional documents with his statement.
In his clarification, Chanchhai noted he observed barcodes on ballots from election day itself, which he found irregular. He emphasized that in his examination of election fraud cases since 2551, he had never seen barcodes on ballots before, making this evidence significant. Notably, he highlighted that the Election Commission admitted to the Ombudsman that ballots can be scanned to trace individual voters, which he argues confirms ballots are not truly secret.
Chanchhai requested the court call former Election Commissioners, including Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, to testify as witnesses and demonstrate whether scanning ballots can identify individual voters. He submitted sample documents previously obtained from the Election Commission and cited court judgments.
He also pointed out that the Election Commission's own procurement Terms of Reference (TOR) prohibited contractors from producing scannable ballots capable of being photocopied. Since ballots were actually scanned to identify voters during the election, this contradicts the TOR specifications, representing a procedural error by the Election Commission.
When asked whether the Election Commission explained to the Ombudsman how ballot scanning could trace voters, Chanchhai noted the Commission acknowledged using scanning to prevent fraud, citing legal authority. However, he argued this reasoning is flawed, comparing it to having laws against vote-buying that cannot actually prevent such violations. He referenced a previous court case where he obtained all ballots—both used and unused—making it immediately clear who voted for whom.
