Widespread Cheating, Vote Buying In Elections

[george]

PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION ORGANISATION ELECTIONS

Cheating `widespread'

Many candidates face ouster, suspension

Scores of candidates could be suspended or disqualified after widespread fraud marred nationwide elections for provincial administration organisation (PAO) members and councillors yesterday.

Even as the votes were being tallied, Election Commission chairman Wassana Permlarp called a re-election in constituency 1 of Nong Chik district in Pattani, after 500 ballot cards went missing. The new poll is to be held next Sunday. Observers said widespread cheating was likely to force many more re-elections.

The PAO polls were held in all provinces except Bangkok which is governed by a special administrative system, and Buri Ram, where PAO elections were held earlier.

Parinya Nakachatree, an election commissioner, said voter turnout nationwide averaged 60%. The EC had received more than 100 poll fraud complaints.

The EC would discuss the complaints today before deciding whether to red-card any candidates. A red card, where clear evidence of fraud comes to light, suspends a candidate from all types of elections for a year. A yellow card is handed to candidates suspected of engineering poll irregularities. They may stand again in re-elections, unlike red-carded candidates.

Mr Parinya said cabinet members helping candidates canvass for votes were ``on the verge'' of breaking the election law.

A source said red-carded candidates may have to pay for re-elections, an estimated 40 million baht in a major province and up to 19 million baht for a small one.

Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot Maneerin, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, said more than 600 police from the bureau were on duty at polling stations.

The official results could be announced on Wednesday or Thursday.

He said 300 election malpractice complaints had been lodged with police in 42 provinces. Most complaints were passed to the EC, but some were kept by police for criminal investigation.

In the period Feb 23-27, during campaigning, the largest number of complaints were filed in Amnart Charoen, followed by Maha Sarakham, Khon Kaen, Yasothon and Rayong. Accusations concerned cash giveaways, throwing parties to woo votes, and offers to take voters to polling stations.

In Chumphon, ballot sheets ran short in Thung Tago, Patho and Pathiew districts. In Samut Prakan, the provincial governor asked police and local leaders to check the authenticity of ballots amid reports that 50,000 voting papers were forged. The power went off briefly at city hall during the counting, raising suspicions of a rigging attempt.

Senator Intharat Yodbangtoey said he was taking the Chiang Mai governor to court for accusing his wife Busaba of vote buying.

Mrs Busaba was running for chairman of the Chiang Mai PAO.

Mrs Busaba was implicated in alleged fraud after a man carrying her campaign leaflets was caught with 5,000 baht in cash in various denominations. He was suspected of setting out to buy votes.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat, voters at polling stations 35 and 36 in Muang district said their names were missing from the poll register. In Lan Saka district, ballots ran out at polling station 29.

Almost 100 names also disappeared from voter records. Those voters are suing the police and election supervisors for negligence of duty.

Ubon Ratchathani poll officials were also tracing 300 lost names from polling station 42 in Warin Chamrab district.

PAO seats are highly coveted with prominent politicians rushing to contest the PAO and councillor elections.

The PAO is the largest form of local government and each gets 100-400 million baht a year from the government for local development.

--The Post 2004-03-15

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Thaksin's fall out with the Americans means that he can't get the best electoral vote counting plan from ole Dubya I guess.

[MadFrankie]

yup