Thai court dismisses petition challenging legality of 2026 election

Thailand's Constitutional Court on Monday dismissed ​a petition challenging the legality ‌of February's general ​election, ruling that the ballot papers used did not violate voter secrecy. Nearly 38 million Thais voted in the February 8 election, which ‌was won decisively by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's Bhumjaithai Party, allowing it to form a coalition government controlling more than 290 of the 500 seats in parliament.

The ruling averts the possibility of an ‌election re-run and will be welcomed by Anutin, whose party is facing a challenge to win ‌public trust amid a stuttering economy and allegations of corruption and involvement in rigging a selection process for the Senate, which it denies. The decision had been closely watched in Thailand, where the Constitutional Court has been at the heart ⁠of ​two decades of intermittent political ⁠turmoil through verdicts that dissolved big parties, voided two general elections and brought down multiple governments and prime ministers.

The court ⁠case stemmed from a petition filed by the ombudsman that argued that barcodes and QR (quick response) codes printed on ​ballot papers could be used to identify which candidate and party a voter chose. The ⁠election commission had said the codes were used for security purposes and that identifying a voter would require access to ballot ⁠stubs ​that were stored separately.

The same court voided a 2006 general election after finding the arrangement of polling booths compromised ballot secrecy and that the election had been called at too ⁠short notice. It also annulled a 2014 election after anti-government protesters blocked some polling stations in Bangkok ⁠and the south, preventing voting ⁠from being held nationwide on the same day.

Those rulings both took place during periods of political tumult that led to military coups in the ‌same year.