Constitutional Court Rules Ballot Barcode System Not Unconstitutional
Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled that barcodes on party-list ballots don't violate the constitution, though it acknowledged the system could theoretically trace voter choices and recommended the Election Commission redesign ballots to
On September 28, Rangsiman Rom, a Democrat Party list MP and deputy party leader, posted commentary after the Constitutional Court ruled that barcodes on party-list ballots do not breach constitutional law. Rom wrote: "The court says ballot barcodes are not wrong. Claims of fake votes and boundary violations are properly stored for anyone to inspect—that is against the law. So will people ignore the law and commit fraud anyway?"
Meanwhile, Suhasvat Kumkong, a Chonburi Democrat MP, posted on Facebook explaining the court's decision in plain terms. He noted that barcodes on party-list ballots can be traced back to identify which party a voter chose, because the barcode number links to the ballot's origin point, which contains information about the voter sequence to whom the ballot was distributed. By cross-referencing three documents—the ballot, the ballot origin record, and the voter roster—it is theoretically possible to identify both the voter and their party choice.
Suhasvat pointed out that the court acknowledged this technical possibility but concluded it does not violate the constitution because combining all three document sets in practice would be difficult, as ballots are stored separately under multiple officials' custody after voting, and unauthorized access would itself be illegal. The court also noted no evidence exists that anyone has actually used the system to trace voter choices.
For single-district constituency ballots, the court found the barcode does not directly link to individual voters in the same way, making voter identification much harder.
Crucially, the court interpreted "secret ballot" to mean "not a blanket ban on all traceability systems." The court accepted that barcodes serve legitimate purposes: detecting fake ballots, preventing cross-district misuse, and checking for fraud. However, the court also stated clearly that the system damages public confidence and recommended the Election Commission redesign ballots to allow fraud detection without codes or marks that can be traced back to reveal individual voter choices.
Suhasvat summarized: "In short, the court acknowledges that barcodes on party-list ballots can be used to trace which party a voter chose, but the process is difficult and no evidence of actual misuse exists, so it is not unconstitutional. The court advised the Election Commission to stop using methods that allow tracing back to individual voters. What do you think, citizens?"
