Court Delays Ruling in Election Commission Chief Fraud Case
Thailand's Corruption Court postponed a hearing in a fraud case against Election Commission Chairman Nrong Klanyvarinthorn and seven other officials accused of adding unnecessary QR codes to ballots, rescheduling the decision to October 7.
On August 11, 2025, the Corruption Court postponed a hearing on the indictment in case number Aor. 31/2569, brought by Adm. Chakrapong Sawaegsathit against EC Chairman Nrong Klanyvarinthorn, seven other officials, and the EC secretary-general. All eight defendants are accused of official misconduct or breach of duty under Section 157 of the Criminal Code, combined with provisions of the Election Commission Organization Act (Section 69), the House of Representatives Election Act (Section 149), and the Anti-Corruption Act (Section 172). The defendants allegedly conspired to order the printing of QR codes on green ballots for constituency elections and barcodes on pink party-list ballots. Prosecutors argue this added unnecessary cost and complexity to ballot verification, lacked transparency, and undermined the secrecy of the voting process for all Thai citizens. The court rescheduled the hearing to October 7, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. This is the fourth postponement since the case was originally set for March 17, then moved to May 19, then August 11.
