Several errors in last week's advance vote have landed the Election Commission (EC) in trouble. Such mistakes raise doubts about the efficacy of the poll agency in organising Sunday's much-anticipated election and whether it can ensure it is free and fair.
One of the errors involved EC officers mistakenly putting postal instead of electoral constituency codes on the ballot envelopes. Other mistakes involved wrong or missing information at some polling stations. Such errors indicated carelessness or a lack of proper officer training.
The EC has admitted the mistakes, which it branded as "minor", and would investigate whether they were innocent or intentional. EC vowed they would not reoccur for the actual election, yet few are convinced.
Several serious questions remain unanswered, like why there were a high number of voters, most of whom were elderly, who showed up in some constituencies in the Northeast for the advance vote. Such an unusually large number of people -- who otherwise have no busy lifestyle to make them require advance voting -- triggered concerns over poll fraud.
Meanwhile, other observers have frowned on the way the EC kept and transported the advance vote ballots, saying they lacked proper security measures so that doctoring could be an issue.
Some mistakes could also have legal ramifications that could even raise questions about the validity of this coming Sunday's election.
Needless to say, the errors have sparked public concern, and a new campaign aims to impeach the EC. More than a million signed up to support the campaign while the hashtag "What is the EC for?" was trending on Twitter on Monday.
But distrust has long been an issue for the seven-member poll agency, which began in 2018 with the junta-installed National Legislation Assembly endorsement.
Some have alleged that the EC serves the ex-junta apparatus and only gets tough with their enemies. The EC turned a blind eye to complaints about Palang Pracharath's fund-raising party, which saw quite a few bureaucrats who were required to remain non-partisan attending.
The EC has also never cleared suspicion over the excess ballots that surpassed the number of voters in the 2019 poll.
These are just a few examples.
For Sunday's vote, the EC has ignored complaints over constituency ballots containing only the numbers, minus other details such as names of provinces or parties each candidate belongs to. Some think such a ballot design makes poll fraud easy, while scrutiny is almost impossible, again intensifying distrust in the agency.
More concerning was the EC's lukewarm response to calls for independent observers to be allowed to monitor polling stations. But the advance vote mistakes strip the EC of any excuses for not allowing non-partisans to observe Sunday's polls.
Now the EC has put the country in a Catch-22 situation. Some critics have voiced concerns over the possibility that some mistakes are so serious that the poll may become invalid.
If that is the case, it will be a great blow to the nation's democratisation efforts as it means Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and his clique might linger on in power. This must not happen. Any poll mistakes need to be carefully investigated, and re-elections must be held in certain constituencies if fraud is detected.
