EC outlines vote counting procedure for May 14 general election
The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday laid out eight steps that will be followed by its officials in the counting of votes after people cast their ballots on May 14.
The general election for members of the House of Representatives will take place on May 14, while advance voting will take place on May 7, from 8am to 5pm.
The EC said that once the polling stations close at 5pm, the EC officers at each polling station will open the ballot boxes and start counting the ballots by following eight steps:
1. A sign will be pasted over the ballot boxes once the polling stations close at 5pm.
2. EC polling station officers will check the number of ballots received with the number of voters who showed up and signed up in person to cast their votes to see if the figures tally. Each EC polling station officer must sign the ballots to confirm its accuracy.
3. EC polling station officers will count each ballot in the open in front of the public continuously without any delay or interruption.
4. EC polling station officers will announce the general election results after the vote counting is completed; and disclose reports of the results, both constituency and party-list, in front of the polling station for the public, election observers, and political party representatives to check.
5. All polling station officers and security personnel will send the election results to their respective district EC office.
6. The district EC office will check the number of ballots received and items as well as equipment related to the general election; both the district EC office officer and the EC polling station officer must authenticate with their signature as proof there were no discrepancies.
7. The district EC office will tally the votes from all the polling stations under its jurisdiction. Once the process is completed, they will announce the voting results and send them to the provincial EC office.
8. The provincial EC office will then send the results to the main EC office.
Once the provincial EC office receives the voting results from all the EC district offices in that particular province, they will compile the official election results and send them to the main EC office to proceed with the announcement of the election results.
Real-time reporting of the upcoming general election results has not been discussed yet. The EC assured that the process, consisting of the eight steps, will be conducted with great care and thoroughness. The public can observe and check the process for transparency and accountability. In case of irregularities, lack of transparency, or suscipicious activities, the public can lodge a complaint.
The public can get additional information from the Election Commission website at www.ect.go.th or add EC official Line account: ECT Thailand to follow the general election news and updates.
