• 
• 

Published on April 14, 2008

Chief investigator Pol Colonel Suchart Wongananchai said the DSI had received a complaint filed by Pol Maj-General Sawek Pinsinchai on February 1 to look into the allegation that the EC had printed an excessive number of ballot papers for last December's general election.

He said Sawek found his complaint to the EC had fallen on deaf ears as the agency did nothing after two months, so he filed the complaint with the DSI.

He said the DSI had checked with Thailand Post and the Chon Buri Provincial Election Commission and found that not only had ballot papers kept in 26 covers in Chon Buri gone missing, but also ballot papers of other provinces, such as those in Rayong and Chanthaburi.

Suchart said the EC argued that the papers were invalid and had been stolen from the office. He questioned whether the EC had reported the theft to police and why it had not undertaken a speedy investigation into the theft, since the ballot papers could be used in electoral fraud.

Beside Sawek, the Alliance of People against Dictatorship also filed a complaint with the DSI, accusing the EC of overprinting ballot papers to the tune of 11.7 million sets for party-list voting and 9.27 mill ion sets for the constituency system, which it said could be regarded as violating election law.

PIYANUCH THAMNUKASETCHAI

THE NATION