As of April 9, over 2.3 million eligible voters had registered for advance voting in the May 14 election. However, the number could have been much higher had the online registration system not crashed.
The Election Commission (EC) attributed the system crash to a large volume of simultaneous voter registrations. The agency said it detected the problem around 9pm on April 9, the last day for advance registrations, which began on March 25. It said the system was designed to accommodate only 4,000 registrations per second.
The number of advance voters is slightly lower than in the previous poll, which was 2.46 million. Eligible voters for the May 14 election come to almost 52.3 million. Early voters will cast their votes on May 7, or on additional days for overseas voters.
Needless to say, the crash put the agency in hot water. While offering public apologies, the poll agency remained silent on calls by social media users asking it to extend the registration period.
The Move Forward Party (MFP) insisted the EC considers an extension, saying it is the duty of the agency to cater to those who wish to exercise their voting rights -- especially when the system error that occurred was not the potential voters' fault.
In fact, the EC has an obligation to ensure there are no problems that may obstruct voters from partaking in the election process.
The MFP said the EC's excuse about the system crash is not acceptable. The party cited Section 50 of the charter that says it is the duty of Thais to vote, particularly with regard to the subsequent penalties they face.
Those who fail to cast a ballot will be stripped of other rights, for instance, not being allowed to join a sign-up campaign for poll result nullification or apply as election candidates from local to national elections, among other things.
Technically, the registration period can be extended in accordance with election law, which stipulates that advance poll registration may be held at least 30 days ahead of the actual election, which is April 14.
The MFP said the poll agency may face a lawsuit if it fails to better accommodate enthusiastic voters wishing to cast their ballots in advance. Such a failure could be regarded as dereliction of duty, an offence punishable by the law.
Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, former election commissioner and also candidate for the Seree Ruam Thai Party, urged the EC to solve the problem as soon as it can and ensure that voters can exercise their voting rights.
He cited, for example, the case of voters lining up at the polling booth early even when they knew ballots close at 5pm. These voters must be taken care of by the EC.
The EC should pay heed to these concerns and act accordingly. In fact, other complaints have arisen, apart from the April 9 crash. A few experienced frustrations as they could not check their registration status after completing the online form; several found the registration system sluggish as they had to spend a long time trying to complete the process.
These are just a few examples which show a lack of competency on the part of the EC. And let us not forget the numerous scandals that have tainted the agency's image since the 2019 elections.
By not recognising the voters' rights, the EC must then be aware of the consequences -- a high price that it will no doubt have to pay.
