Constitutional Court Proceeds With Ballot Code Case Ruling
Thailand's Constitutional Court will rule Monday on whether barcodes and QR codes on February's parliamentary ballots violated voter secrecy, with the verdict announced at 2 p.m. despite the government declaring it a public holiday.
The Constitutional Court announced on September 27 that it will proceed with its scheduled hearing on Monday, September 28, 2025, beginning at 9:30 a.m., followed by the verdict announcement at 2:00 p.m. the same day. The case concerns the Ombudsman's challenge to the Election Commission's decision to print barcodes and QR codes on parliamentary ballots from the February 8, 2025 election, arguing these codes could allow identification of voters and verification of their votes, thereby violating ballot secrecy and multiple constitutional articles including Articles 4, 25, 32, 34, 50, 83, 85, 95, and 224. Although the cabinet declared September 28–29 as special public holidays, the court emphasized that since the hearing date was set long in advance and all parties have been notified, proceeding as scheduled is necessary to avoid disrupting other scheduled cases through October 2025 and to comply with the Constitutional Court Procedure Act, Section 29 of 2018. Members of the public can watch the verdict announcement live on the Constitutional Court's website starting at 2:00 p.m.
