The Election Commission (EC) revealed its general election reform proposals Tuesday, targeting areas ranging from candidate registration to the announcement of election results.
EC member Somchai Srisuthiyakorn said the EC had approved in principle the draft organic law on elections and expected to finish correcting its wording by Thursday.
After the EC signs the draft it will be forwarded to the Constitution Drafting Committee for consideration.
The draft covers four main areas: candidate registration mechanisms, campaigning, voting procedures and election result announcements, said Mr Somchai.
Regarding registration of candidates, the EC proposed raising the candidacy application fee from 5,000 baht to 10,000 baht to discourage candidates who might not actually want to compete in elections, and only seek publicity, from registering, he said.
Half of the application fee will later be returned to the candidates who receive votes accounting for more than 5% of the election turnout, he said.
The EC also proposed to allow interested persons to apply for election candidacy online, in addition to the conventional way of applying in person, he added.
The second part of the draft organic law on elections deals with campaign mechanisms. The EC proposed a requirement that would have candidates produce a maximum of 300 campaign posters and only post them on EC bulletin boards, he said.
The EC expects to install about 200 such boards per constituency or around 70,000 points across the country, he said, adding candidates won't have to waste extra money on larger posters or even a giant billboard as some candidates have tended to do in previous elections.
The EC expects to use around 20 million baht from the candidacy application fees to fund the procurement of the election campaign boards, he said.
The size of the election campaign poster is proposed to be set at a standard 60cm by 60cm, he said.
"If the cost of each poster is 100 baht, each candidate will then only pay 30,000 baht for his or her posters not exceeding 300 copies," he said.
The EC also proposed a requirement to have political parties fielding candidates in more than half of all constituencies to send their candidates for prime minister to a certain number of televised public debates organised by the EC.
As for regulations covering online campaigning, candidates will be allowed to roll out their campaign material online as long as they comply with EC regulations, he said.
Seven days before the election, candidates running online campaigns will be prohibited from making any changes to their campaign material to prevent them from making possible last-ditch attempts to attack or defame rivals online, he added.
In the third part of the draft organic law, the EC proposed to include more voting options to allow voters to cast votes by post and through an electronic device in some selected constituencies, he said, adding that voters living overseas will be able to vote through an online system in countries that are ready to support the necessary technology.
The EC also proposed to extend advance voting to two days and polling station closing time to 6pm, Mr Somchai said.
In the fourth part of the draft organic law covering election result announcements, the EC will be authorised to issue a yellow card for "election misconduct" and order a recount, while more serious violations will go to court.
The EC proposed to issue red, orange and black cards for serious violations, each offering certain penalties for violations. Those issued a black card will lose political rights for life.
