Incidents of people tearing ballot papers were reported in several provinces, but violators – most elderly and with health issues – insisted they had no intention of destroying the ballot papers and acted out of misunderstanding.
The Royal Thai Police said on Sunday after the polls closed that the police’s election coordination centre had received a report that about 20 voters nationwide had torn up ballot papers.
In Songkhla’s Hat Yai, a 76-year-old retiree tore her green ballot,for the party-list system into two pieces because she did not see a purple ballot and thought only one was used.
The incident came to the election officials’ attention when the woman, who claimed to have a problem with her eyesight, brought the two pieces to officials to ask what to do next. She was handed over to police and faced a charge of violating the election law.
In Phuket’s Thalang district, a 77-year-old man tore his marked ballot papers because he thought he was supposed to. His relatives told police the man was being treated for ischemic stroke and had experienced some memory loss.
He was initially charged with damaging the ballot and his family was told to bring proof of his illness to police and the provincial election office.
The northeastern province of Udon Thani reported two cases of ballot-paper tearing.
The first incident involved an 84-year-old man who tore the ballot paper for the party-list system at a polling station in Nong Wua So district.
The man, who reportedly had Alzheimer’s disease, told poll officials that he thought he had lost the purple ballot, so he tore the green ballot paper into two pieces so he had two separate ballots to drop into the two ballot boxes.
In Kut Chap district, a 61-year-old man tore a purple ballot paper out of frustration because he could not find the number he wanted to vote for. He walked up to poll officials for a new ballot and was told what he did was illegal.
The voter told police that he mixed up the constituency and party-list ballots and that he was unaware that tearing the ballot paper was against election laws.
Samut Prakan also reported two cases of ballot-paper tearing by an 87-year-old woman and an 83-year-old man at two voting stations. Both reportedly had Alzheimer’s disease and were found to have damaged the ballot papers unintentionally.
In Krabi’s Muang district, a 21-year-old man who claimed to be a first-time voter tore both ballot papers after marking them, dropped the parts that were marked in the ballot boxes and kept the rest.
He told authorities that he tried to ask election officials what to do after marking the ballots but they did not hear him. He assumed he was supposed to tear the ballots and put the marked parts in the boxes.
In Phrae’s Sung Men district, election officials ruled as an accident a drunk 36-year-old voter who fell in a polling booth and damaged one of the ballot papers. The case was included in a police incident report.