Thai court accepts petition challenging legality of election ballots

March 18, 2026 1:11 AM EDT

Electoral officials count the ballots on the day of the general election, at a polling station in Bangkok, Thailand, February 8, 2026. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

BANGKOK, March 18 (Reuters) - ‌Thailand's Constitutional ​Court ​on Wednesday accepted for consideration a petition challenging the legality of ‌election ballots used in last month's polls.

The ⁠Election Commission has been given 15 days to ‌provide clarification, the court ‌said in a statement. It did not specify any other orders, meaning Thursday's planned vote ​by the new parliament on a prime minister would go ahead.

The complaints ⁠alleged that barcodes and QR codes on the ballots could ​potentially be used to identify which candidate and party a voter had chosen, ​undermining the secrecy of ‌the ballot, according to the Office of the Ombudsman, which filed ⁠the petition.

The commission has said the barcodes were included for security purposes and that identifying ⁠a voter would require access to the upper half ​of the ballots, which had been securely stored.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's Bhumjaithai Party had a decisive win ‌in February's election and he plans to form a coalition government ‌that would control 290 of the 499 ⁠seats currently occupied ‌in the new ​parliament.

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng, Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Martin ‌Petty)



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