The Election Commission (EC) is expected to debate today a draft organic law seeking to grant itself more powers to ensure efficiency in guarding against poll fraud and cheats.
A source at the EC said the draft law involves the elections of MPs and the mechanisms expected to help the poll agency do its job efficiently.
Under the bill prepared by the Office of the Election Commission's working panel, the EC will maintain its authority to disqualify election candidates and poll winners who violate election regulations with "orange" cards, and a new black one, to be issued by the courts, added to the EC's existing yellow and red card penalties.
An orange card will suspend the election rights of a winning candidate for a year if the EC has evidence the candidate is involved in election fraud.
The EC's authority to issue an orange card is limited to the post-election period but before the poll results are announced and its decision cannot be challenged.
A black card refers to the revocation of election rights for life which is addressed by the draft charter, said the source.
However, the EC is not empowered to issue a black card and the term refers to a Supreme Court order that imposes a lifetime political ban on an election candidate or an MP.
The source said the bill also seeks to grant power to the EC to announce an election date and reschedule an election date in case there are reasonable grounds to believe the polls will be disrupted, making it impossible for the EC to endorse enough members of parliament to formalise the first House session.
The proposal is an apparent attempt to deter a fiasco similar to the Feb 2, 2014 general election.
The Constitutional Court ruled by a 6-3 vote in March that year to annul the elections on the basis that no election was held in 28 constituencies in the South. Voting could not take place in eight southern provinces because no candidates were registered due to disruptions caused by anti-government protesters.
Also under the bill, election candidates must install election campaign signboards at locations allowed by the EC only and those whose election rights are revoked under the 2007 laws on elections of MPs and senators remain stripped of their rights. It is the second organic law the EC will submit to the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) for consideration.
Meanwhile, CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan declined to comment on the "black card" because he has yet to see the details. He said the CDC will listen to all suggestions about the 10 organic laws to be drafted in the next eight months.