Supreme Administrative Court shoots down petition to nullify advance voting

"Under Article 219 of the 2007 Constitution, the Supreme Court has the jurisdiction to adjudicate cases relating to the elections of MPs and senators and the Appeal Court is responsible for ruling on disputes relating to the elections of local officials," the court said in its ruling.

The petition, filed by the New Aspiration Party (NAP), claimed that the Election Commission (EC) had exceeded its mandate in organising the absentee and advance balloting last week. It asked the high court to issue an injunction for a revote pending the judicial review to cancel the outcome.

The litigation was seen as an attempt to delay this Sunday's balloting.

NAP secretarygeneral Sarawut Thongpen, the petition's lead endorser, said he respected the ruling.

"I questioned the EC's mandate because I wanted to seek the judicial opinions on the matter," he said, adding that he would heed the verdict on the judicial purview.

However, he would have to study pertinent legal issues before deciding whether to litigate any further by seeking the Supreme Court review, he said.