EC defends proposal to pay voters in re-runs
The Election Commission (EC) chairman yesterday defended his proposal to make electoral-fraud offenders pay for voters who have to cast their ballots again in another round of elections, if the first one is cancelled due to cheating.
Apichart Sukhagganond, the EC chief, argued that the proposal was not "vote-buying" as the motive behind it was to encourage voters to go to the poll. He said the law stipulated that those who committed electoral offences that resulted in a new election had to pay for the cost of organising it. "A new round of elections costs voters more time and money, so why don't we make the offenders compensate the voters?" Apichart said. He said that if the public supported this proposal the EC was willing to amend the law. "We should make offenders pay because we have 40 million voters, and if the state has to pay Bt100 to each voter, it is a huge sum of money," he said. Other measures to encourage voters to go to the polls might be discounts on bus or train tickets or souvenir coins, said Apichart. EC secretary-general Suthipol Thaweechaikarn yesterday defended Apichart's proposal, saying it was one way to lessen the burden on voters, who are required by law to vote. "He made this proposal in good faith to help the poor, not to destroy democracy," he said.
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