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| คณะกรรมการการเลือกตั้ง (กกต.) | |
 Official emblem of the Office of the Election Commission of Thailand | |
 Logo of the Election Commission of Thailand | |
.jpg) Front door of the Election Commission (2011) | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 9 June 1998 |
| Type | Constitutional organization |
| Jurisdiction | Kingdom of Thailand |
| Headquarters | No. 120, Ratthaprasatphakdi Building,Chaeng Watthana Government Complex, Chaeng Watthana Rd., Thung Song Hong Subdistrict,Lak Si,Bangkok, 10210 |
| Annual budget | 8,247 million baht (FY2019) |
| Agency executives |
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| Website | Official website |
TheElection Commission (Thai:คณะกรรมการการเลือกตั้ง,RTGS: Khana Kammakan Kan Lueaktang) is anindependent government agency and the soleelection management body ofThailand. It oversees government elections (parliamentary elections and local elections) as well asreferendums throughout theKingdom of Thailand. Established by the 1997 constitution, the Election Commission (EC) has extensive powers to manage, oversee, and regulate the electoral process. The EC has reacted to irregularities in the2000 Senate elections, the2006 House elections, and the2007 House elections, forcing re-elections and disqualifying many candidates. Election Commission is heavily criticized for untrustworthy and unprofessional practice during 2023 election, some critics are expected that the commission itself is under the influence of the military and orchestratedelection fraud itself.[1]
The primary role of the commission is to ensure thatelections carried out in theKingdom of Thailand are lawful and compatible with theconstitution. It is also in charge of enforcing national election laws covering:House of Representatives,Senate,Districts,Referendums,Bangkok gubernatorial elections andpolitical parties. Its constitutional duty includes the publication of all election returns, therefore formalizing them. The commissioners also have the right to disqualify a candidate, or call for a re-count for a particular seat.
The EC's responsibilities include the organization, management, and counting of all elections and voting in the kingdom. It advises theNational Assembly on future policies concerning elections and suffrage. The commission has legal powers as alaw enforcement agency to investigate and indict those who compromise election laws through bribery, corruption, vote buying, or blackmail. The commission has the power to investigate the finances and donor lists of all political parties. It informs the public of elections and their importance.
InFY2019, the EC is allocated 8,247 millionbaht, more than tripling from the FY2018 budget of 2,265 million baht due to national elections in 2019.[2]
TheElection Commission of Thailand is composed of a committee of five members, onechairman (Thai:ประธานกรรมการการเลือกตั้ง) and four election commissioners (Thai:กรรมการการเลือกตั้ง). The administrative side of the commission is run by the secretary-general (Thai:เลขาธิการคณะกรรมการการเลือกตั้ง). As well as being regular members of the commission, the five members are also given various responsibilities. All commissioners are appointed by theking, with the advice of theSenate of Thailand; for a term of seven years. The current commission is the fourth team of election commissioners, appointed 12 August 2018.
| Office | Name | Role | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman of the Election Commission | Ittiporn Boonprakong | General Administration | 12 August 2018 |
| Election Commissioner | Santhat Siriananpaiboon | Election Administration | 12 August 2018 |
| Election Commissioner | Thawatchai Pakorn | Investigation and Adjudication | 12 August 2018 |
| Election Commissioner | Chatchai Chanpraisri | Political Party Affairs and Referendum | 12 August 2018 |
| Election Commissioner | Pakorn Mahannop | Public Participation | 12 August 2018 |
| Secretary-General | Jarungvith Phumma | Election Commission's Secretariat | 12 August 2018 |
Prior to 1992, the responsibility of overseeing elections fell on theMinistry of Interior or Mahatthai Ministry. Under the premiership ofAnand Panyarachun after theThai general election of 1992, the prime minister realised the need to create a central and independent body, whose sole purpose was to regulate and manage elections. As a result, on 22 March 1992 the "Committee to Administer and Investigate Elections to the House of Representatives" (Thai:"คณะกรรมการติดตามและสอดส่องดูแลการเลือกตั้งสมาชิกสภาผู้แทนราษฎร") was created, a precursor of the commission. The commission in its current form was created by the1997 constitution of Thailand.
TheThai general election of 2006, was held on 9 April for the House of Representatives and 19 April for the Senate. The main opposition parties, composed of theDemocrat Party, theChart Thai Party, and theMahachon Party, boycotted the election on the grounds thatThaksin Shinawatra's government had unfairly called an election to divert public attention form theShin Corp scandal. Despite this, the election went ahead.
On 3 April 2006, thePeople's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) petitioned the Administrative Court to suspend the results of the election and accused the Election Commission of violating voter privacy. It accused the commission of placing voting booths so that voters' backs were to the public, when in all previous elections, voters faced the public, with a barrier one-half meter tall at the front of the booth separating the voter from the public. The commission claimed the new arrangement was designed to prevent various forms of polling fraud including the use of cameras by voters to take photographs of their ballots. After the2005 election, cameras andcamera phones were banned from voting stations due to fears that canvassers would demand ballot photographs in return for money.[3][4] However, the PAD claimed that this allowed onlookers to peek over voters' shoulders and see who they voted for.[5][6]
The elections were eventually declared invalid by Thailand'sConstitutional Court, which found the positioning of voting booths violated voter privacy. The Constitutional Court forced the Election Commission to resign over its management of the April elections. The court failed to persuade the EC president to resign. It did, however, prevent the Senate from appointing a replacement for commissionerJaral Buranapansri, who had died.[citation needed] This prevented the commission from achieving a quorum.[citation needed] It later found the remaining commissioners guilty of malfeasance and jailed them for one night. An entirely new commission was appointed.
A number ofMPs (mainly those elected for the PPP) were given "red cards" for alleged vote buying, meaning they would not be able to contest the resulting by-elections. Other MPs were issued "yellow cards" and not banned from contesting the by-elections.[7] By 3 January 2008, the Election Commission had endorsed 397 MPs and was still investigating 83 MPs for fraud.[8]
By-elections were held on 13 January, 17 January, 20 January (the day before the first session of the newly elected parliament) and 27 January 2008.[9] The Electoral Commission was still looking into allegations of fraud by PPP deputy leader Yongyuth Tiyaphairat. If given a red card, the PPP faced dissolution. PPP officials stated that they are not worried about dissolution, and that they would simply find a new party instead; local reports stated that a likely candidate for takeover by PPP members would be theThai Land Power Party (Palang Pandin Thai Party).[10]
Disqualified were:
No major event occurred.
On 19 July, bothYingluck Shinawatra andAbhisit Vejjajiva were acknowledged as members of theHouse. On 27 July, the acknowledgement extended to further ninety four elected candidates. Now and eventually, the number acknowledged sufficed to constitute the House. This, however, did not includeJatuporn Prompan whom the Election Commission declared to have lost thesuffrage due to failure to vote in both the previous and the present elections. TheConstitution requires that a member of the House must possess the suffrage, and also prescribes that a person failing to vote in an election loses the suffrage but regains it once voting in the next election.[18]
| General elections | |
|---|---|
| Senate elections | |
| Supplementary elections | |
| By-elections | |
| Local elections | |
| Referendums | |
See also:Election Commission of Thailand | |
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