Thai media unites to observe election, provide reliable, real-time results
More than 40 news outlets have teamed up to launch an application for real-time reporting of the election result. The aim is to come up with an “unofficial outcome” within two hours after ballot boxes are closed.
Suphap Kleekajai, president of the Association of Digital Television Broadcasting (ADTEB) said the upcoming general election marks a fresh start for the country, and voters are paying close attention.
He said that apart from reporting the outcome, the media is also committed to serving as a “watchdog” in order to prevent instances of electoral fraud.
He said the aim is to provide people with timely and accurate results, especially since the Election Commission (EC) has hinted that it may take four to five days before an official result is released.
Adisak Limparungpatanakij, ADTEB consultant, said once the voting ends at 5pm, it is possible to unofficially declare the number of votes cast for party-list MPs by 7pm and constituency MPs by 9pm.
Adisak, who is also the Nation Group’s deputy chief executive officer, said the application will publish the outcome based on data collected by observers at each voting station.
They will be in charge of uploading images of the board that displays the number of votes cast to the Sripatum University database. This total will then reflect on the application, he said.
“This will allow us to check and ask questions if our result does not match the one released by the EC,” Adisak added.
He added that there should be one observer at each of the 95,000 ballot stations countrywide.
“Five parties, namely Pheu Thai, Democrat, Move Forward, Thai Sang Thai and United Thai Nation have recruited more than 40,000 people for the job,” he said.
Veerasak Hadda, who oversees subdistrict administrative organisations, said he will be recruiting village health volunteers to do the job for a small allowance.
Meanwhile, Rawee Tawantharong, president of the Online News Provider Association, said that if there is just “one observer per one [voting] station, the result can be very accurate”.
He said this observation project can be operated under the “3Rs” concept – real-time, reliable and recheck.
The project will initially require about 12 million baht, which will be raised through crowdfunding, Aekkasit Diewwanit, registrar of the Thai Fintech Association, said.
All donors will be given a digital coupon as a gift, he said.
“The donations will be managed by Kiatnakin Bank,” he added.
The Election Commission announced on Tuesday that the general election will be held on May 14. This announcement came one day after the House of Representatives was dissolved.
