1,500 NZ votes lost in the mail now ‘spoiled’

A total of 1,500 ballots cast in overseas voting in New Zealand were not counted yesterday and were initially declared spoiled after they did not arrive on time, according to the Election Commission (EC).

Pol Col Jarungvith Phumma, secretary-general of the EC, said yesterday the last batch of the ballots should have arrived on March 22 for sorting and delivery to polling stations for a vote count, but the ballots did not make it to the country until yesterday morning.

He said the EC was investigating what caused the delay in the delivery because the ballots had been sent from New Zealand on March 18.

“The law says all ballots cast in advance voting must arrive at polling stations before the polls close at 5pm so they must be mixed with other ballots for a vote count. If they don’t arrive on time, the law says they will be marked as spoiled,” he said.

He said the issue would be reported to the EC commissioners today and it will be determined if anyone will be held responsible.

According to Pol Col Jarungvith, it appeared that a flight which delivered the ballots went to another country before it came to Thailand and this could have caused the delay.

He said the number of ballots was about 4 per constituency, adding that in the past the court did not order a re-election in a polling station where alleged fraud was committed because the questionable ballots were not large enough to affect the election outcome.

Earlier in the day, EC deputy secretary-general Nat Laosisawakul said these ballots were expected to be delivered to the polling stations before the polls closed at 5pm.

Thais living in New Zealand were allowed to cast their votes by mail or at designated polling stations. The voting was organised at the Thai embassy in Wellington on March 9, at a Thai temple in Oakland on March 10, and in Blenheim on March 16.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs insisted it received the ballot cards from the embassies and consulate offices worldwide and had handed over them to the EC and Thailand Post according to the procedures.

According to Pol Col Jarungvith, the EC’s Office expects to complete its investigation into complaints as soon as possible to make sure the election outcome is announced within 150 days, or May 9, as legally required.

He said in case re-elections are necessary, the contests are likely to be held on April 28.

The EC secretary-general said the EC received a total of 91 complaints on election day via its hotline. Fifty-eight involved alleged election fraud committed by MP candidates and the 33 others were against staff at polling stations.

A total of 21 incidents of ballot tearing were reported in 21 provinces and there were two cases of voters taking photos of the ballot papers.