Thailand’s junta-appointed Election Commission has already defended its count, which is still in its preliminary stages, blaming any issues on the failure of the media to keep up with the raw data
. After delaying the release of the full vote count on election night and then again on Monday, the commission has now said it will release its final preliminary results on Friday. Official results are not expected until May.The incomplete results reported so far show the anti-junta Pheu Thai party won the most seats, while the military-backed Palang Pracharath party appeared to have received the most votes. Both say those results mean they have a mandate to form the next government.
Amael Vier, Anfrel’s program officer for capacity building and international elections, said at a news conference that a lack of outside access to the vote count was the main reason it was flawed. Since the coup, the junta has used the absolute power it granted itself to go about rewriting the country’s laws, including the commissioning of a new constitution and electoral system that severely handicaps parties without links to the military. Until shortly before the election, political parties were banned from all activities, including holding meetings.
Another group, We Watch, said it sent 4,000 observers to 72 provinces. It released a statement Tuesday noting it had “many doubts” related to the transparency of the vote count.
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